In the great sea of chrome fittings for Kitchen and Bath, we've seen quite a few shining gems through the years: Dornbracht's Tara, Naoto Fukasawa's About Water, and Kohler's Purist Faucet are the latest incarnations from just the last few months. However, it strains the skills of the A&D archivist to find the same kind of exquisite styling in a colored faucet. In fact, yours truly can locate precisely one example that boldly went beyond the realm of silver or black-Note Design Studio's Coloric Mixer Collection.

Red. Designed by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba for Zucchetti.

Today I'm happy to say we can make that two, because manufacturer Zucchetti and designers Ludovica+Roberto Palomba are offering Red. It's a new faucet whose name speaks volumes, especially when compared to the usual slick contemporary fare.

Admittedly, “Red” is a bit of a coinage in this case, since the as-yet-unnamed piece seems to warrant a crucially descriptive moniker. Further, the mixer actually comes in several colors-traditional black, white, and a sort of off-sky blue. But, really, once you've gone red you'll never go back, and it exerts the insistent pull of so many icons of sexuality: roses, lipstick, silken dresses… Even so, Zucchetti's Red is actually on the conservative side. The piece is certainly thin and shapely, yet it actually says Country French more than NYC. And the free-standing version recalls past manual modes of delivery that required a fair bit of operator participation, as in a farmhouse or bicycle pump.

Red's silhouette is attuned to a contemporary space-saving ethos, yet the spacious inscribed swoop of its spout is sufficient to fill large pots, or rinse copious amounts of veggies, or bathe an infant, should the opportunity arise-for surely even the youngest among us can appreciate the playful joie de vivre and intrinsic charm of Zucchetti's Red.

Via Trendir.