[dkarl]

He's saying it's dishonest according to the principle that the materials used to build something should not be hidden or made to look like other materials. I think it's a bad example, because, as he admits, it's art and not design, but his next example about Dieter Rams wearing plastic glasses made to look like tortoise shell is more persuasive.

I think his point is that each of the "principles" is one side of a coin, and that Dieter Rams might be famous for one side of each coin, but he deals in both sides, because the preference for one over the other is not absolute. It's a fair point.