If you're looking for a state of the art cooker hood with stylish good looks ... then it might be worth searching out a Faber model. Faber cooker hoods are distributed in the UK by Air Uno and shown above are their Drop and Mirror styles.

Drop comes in a pearly finish in white, red or black. The design was inspired by nature and it's certainly very different. The promotional pictures have all been of the white finish ... but I'd love to see the black one. The red could be a real statement too ... but perhaps a bit brave for most of us. This is one of several innovative Faber hoods that have LED lights, instead of the normal halogen ones. LED lights won't need changing so often, use a lot less energy and these have been specially developed to produce white, diffuse lighting which will reproduce the natural colour of your stir fried veg.

Mirror comes in black, white and patterned white (Mirror Art). It's one of the new angled cooker hoods that are especially good for tall cooks. The top half opens out when in use and Mirror cooker hoods have a "Key 24" function, whereby you can leave them on 24 hours a day. The level is so low that you can't hear the fan working ... but it would keep the air in the kitchen fresh and clean at all times. The mirrored finish would also be good in a small kitchen, where the reflection could be used to give the illusion of more space.

There are other innovations to look out for, with Faber hoods, including SIL-K technology. This reduces turbulent air flow inside the chimney, thereby dramatically reducing the noise output. All the Faber hoods are reasonably quiet but SIL-K equipped hoods are super-quiet.

Main - an upright, rectangular model - will take panels to match your kitchen.

There's even a model  (Imago+) which has a 19" LCD TV, Analog and Digital tuner and a webcam. You can catch up with a soap ... or keep an eye on the children ... whilst you're cooking.

Just two things to be wary of ...

1. They're not going to be cheap!
2. Like most continental manufacturers, Faber are designing their cooker hoods for electric hobs. If you need to position the hood 760mm or more ... above a gas hob ... it'll be slightly less efficient.