When industrial designer Johnny Lim began creating a new collection of cutlery for the Canadian flatware house Gourmet Settings, he looked not to the silver service canteens of Edwardian banqueting tables for inspiration but to the planes and angles of radar-deflecting aviation, which he considered a more inspiring reference.

During his R&D process, Lim made an exploration of the sharp lines, continuous curvature and the suggestion of infinite flat plates in Hal Markarian’s groundbreaking B-2 aircraft, interpreting the computational fluid dynamics and low-profile aesthetics of the so-called “Stealth” bomber for the mirror finish and matt stainless steel of spoons, forks and knives.

While proportions were smaller and the product’s impact somewhat less aggressive, the design’s meticulously engineered concept maintained a balance of dynamic form and ergonomic integrity with aerodynamics that evoked the lines of the iconic jet. The knife in the Gourmet Settings Stealth collection is discreetly unconventional – a vertical blade twisting into a horizontal handle that stands up on its cutting-edge when not in use. ‘Like a jet coming out of a spin,’ says Lim.

Light-reflecting planes and diamond-cut edges add dazzle, explains the designer, elevating the Stealth collection to Michelin-starred levels of culinary pleasure. ‘We wanted to create a futuristic style statement at the table while echoing the silhouette, stability and aerodynamic grace of the aircraft.’ Quality, technically proficient cutlery that is modern, weighty and luxurious… but also flies under the radar.

This same stealth design aesthetic – now evident across fashion, homeware, jewellery, ceramics, sculpture, architecture and even paint technology – has been successfully deployed by international naval and air forces for decades. The still-in-service B-2, first produced in 1987 but in development since the 1970s, was followed by Lockheed’s F-117 Nighthawk and the MH-60 Black Hawk stealth helicopter. Recently (and more ominously) the formidable Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon” and the potentially devastating Sukhoi Su-57 Felon jet fighters from China have assumed secret airborne supremacy. At sea, the furtive shape of the French Surcouf frigate was adapted by the Pentagon for its covert coast-guarding, 70mph M80 Stiletto boat, and one of the world’s most famous superyachts, Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko’s $300 million Motor Yacht A, designed by Philippe Starck, is also known for its stealth looks.

State-of-the-art stealth technology actually originates back in low-tech World War I, when the British Navy commissioned marine artist Norman Wilkinson to paint its ships in ‘dazzle’ camouflage. Consisting of complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours interrupting and intersecting each other, the “dazzle” effect’s bold shapes and violent colour contrasts were intended to confuse the opposition rather than conceal the craft. It worked – the US Navy adopted the same paint job during WWII and called it “razzle dazzle”.

A whole century later, Norman Wilkinson’s groundbreaking idea is honoured in tote form – an Issey Miyake bag composed of puzzle piece-like units that are slotted together to create theoretically endless combinations. Called Dazzle, the bag is a continuation of the Japanese designer’s classic Bao Bao tote, launched in 2000, its distinctive, shiny and flexible, multiple triangular forms facilitating what Miyake called ‘infinite versatile shapes’. The Bao Bao name is Miyake’s tribute to Frank Gehry’s 1997 Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain – its elegant confusion of complex

Across the hive-like geometrics and unexpected angles that distinguish Konstantin Grcic’s furniture pieces and Zaha Hadid’s multi-faceted, sci-fi constructions, stealth design’s mathematical intricacy is driven by computer technology.

Gehry configured his Bilbao masterpiece’s curves and planes with a 3D design programme called CATIA. As seen in the video for the smash hit New Freezer by Rich The Kid featuring Kendrick Lamar, United Nude’s Lo Res car – itself inspired by the classic Lamborghini Countach – has been cited as a key influence on the designers of Tesla’s now infamous Cybertruck.

Ultimate stealth? It is now available in paint and ink format. Vantablack, aka “the world’s darkest material”, made famous by Anish Kapoor (who has exclusive rights for its use in the artworld) is composed of carbon nanotubes on an aluminium foil, absorbing an astonishing 99.965 per cent of light, rendering anything it’s applied to as dead flat and all but invisible.

Surrey NanoSystems, the company that created this doomy, super black pigment, believes its main customers to be in the defence and space sectors. Meanwhile, clothing made of Vantablack Nano fabric and “Vanta” nail polish variants are already informing a nu-goth style, and Swiss watchmaker H Moser & Cie has announced a prototype Vantablack timepiece that completely disappears on the wrist, with only its moving parts still visible. The world’s first (perhaps literally) weapons-grade Vantablack-coated car, the BMW X6 coupe, called “a road-going stealth bomber” by the Car Throttle website, is currently on sale in the UK. At night, only the vehicle’s illuminated cockpit and rear stop lights are visible.

At present Johnny Lim’s black-coated Stealth cutlery does not employ Vantablack, but who knows, maybe in the future…? In the meantime, his Stealth designs will certainly prove a talking point at any dinner party.

(Simon Mills is bespoke editor at Wallpaper* magazine)

Gourmetsettings.com (For enquiries regarding the Stealth collection, please contact Tiffany@gourmetsettings.com)