What do you buy for someone who has everything? The answer, one suspects, is not an ironing board.
But for the big spender who, let’s face it, almost certainly never folds their own laundry, there is a new bougie appliance: a £3,999 ironing board.
The Laurastar x Germanier ironing system, on sale at Harrods, comes with a built-in water tank that emits “hygienic steam” and a keychain made with upcycled Swarovski crystals.
The limited-edition gadget was shown off at Paris fashion week earlier this month and has a handsewn cover that, according to the marketing materials, offers “a never-ending visual symphony”.
Handily for those unused to this highly complex household chore, the product also comes with a smartphone app showing basic ironing techniques.
The Swiss appliance is touted as being able to cut ironing time in half and last for a generation, which – for the price of 222 standard ironing boards, or hiring a weekly cleaner for nearly two years – is perhaps just as well.
One Harrods customer, however, was a little underwhelmed. They described the product as “a little flimsy considering how much it costs”, adding: “Up close you’re really struck by how big it is and it also looks as if it could be pretty heavy to carry around with the tank attached.
“Admittedly the colours do look quite cool and it’s much, much sleeker than any other I’ve seen – but it’s more of a spaceship than an ironing board!”
The board is a collaboration between Laurastar and the Swiss designer Kevin Germanier, whose fans are said to include Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Heidi Klum.
Germanier said the model came from his idea of “merging the catwalk and the backstage”. He said 90% of the ironing board is upcycled and the crystal-encrusted keychain was assembled by his team in Paris.
Laurastar was founded in 1980 in Switzerland and later adopted the slogan “ironing is no longer a chore”.
Having made its name with what was billed in the 1980s as the world’s first ironing board with a built-in steam generator, the company more recently launched what it said was the first “connected iron” – a board with a smartphone app that doubles as a “real ironing coach”.
The new product may be designed to last for a generation, but Harrods is selling a replacement cover if it starts to look past its best. The price tag? Only a cool £199.
