Often the most successful product designs aren't entirely new inventions but small game-changing reformulations of things that have long existed. These ingenious folding coat hangers are the perfect example.
Sometimes you don't have space for a closet, and even some closets designed to accommodate full-size hangers aren't quite deep enough, causing clothes to rub against the door. Three years in the making, Coat Hingers, as designer Simone Giertz calls them, aim to fix that problem by folding in half to save space (if you're looking for bargains on more technological products, see our Apple Black Friday 2023 roundup).
I spent three years designing foldable coat hangers. pic.twitter.com/nz8cC5RRCeNovember 16, 2023
Launched as a Kickstarter project this month, Coat Hingers can be used as standard hangers or they can be folded to fit into a smaller space, though Giertz recommends using them with her own rods, which have grooves to keep the hangers aligned. She's planning to produce three different kits in four color options: charcoal, white, red and green.
The hangers can fit much closer to a wall(Image credit: Simone Giertz)
Clothes still hang straight(Image credit: Simone Giertz)
"It takes creativity to fit everything you need in a small space. Coat Hingers turn nooks and crannies into functional closets, and are a completely new way of storing clothes," the Swedish designer and YouTuber says.
The designer says the idea of the Coat Hinger came to her in Autumn of 2020 when she moved into a new house in Los Angeles and fond she didn’t have enough space for a clothes rack. She and her team went through 124 iterations to finally arrive at a design for a stainless steel coat hanger with an injection molded acetal hinge. She aims to start fulfilling orders in May 2024.
Giertz went through 124 iterations to reach the final design of her folding coat hangers (Image credit: Simone Giertz)
Giertz's first product design was the Every Day Calendar back in 2018. She has since founded the Yetch Store, which offers intriguing products such as a screwdriver ring and an intentionally incomplete jigsaw puzzle.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
