Have you ever noticed the handles when entering certain luxury branded fashion outlets? The handles naturally form part of the stores overall branding and are the first touchpoint in your experience of shopping there, so there is a lot of thought put into the look and feel to enhance the entrance into their world.
An off the shelf handle just won't cut it, and there is absolutely no way any reputable store would have the same handle as anybody else. That's where a bespoke service comes into play, with made-to-measure handles, tailored just for your project.
Philip Watts Design have been commissioned to produce numerous commercial handles to represent certain brands, including some within the fashion industry. One of the most distinguished examples has to be the 'umbrella handles' designed and manufactured for the Saville Row tailors, Hackett Menswear, shown here on the doors of their Paris store.
Quintessentially British, the umbrella is an iconic accessory of the city slicker, the banker, the city-gent. Whilst the bowler hats with which they are generally associated with have since disappeared, the umbrella remains a symbol of gentrification, of class, style and confidence. Plus they make great handles.
Philip Watts also make the handles for Alexander McQueen, designers of more contemporary clothing. These handles are much more simplistic, minimalistic, solid cast aluminium with a simple 'comb' texture and finished in Matt Black.
A recent trip to Milan further highlighted how the fashion houses are putting great emphasis on handle design. Of the examples included here, the ones that clearly stood out the most were the snake handles for Roberto Cavalli. Absolutely gorgeous.
Others that spring to mind are the handles at Tiffany, Louis Vuitton and Prada, all of which go to great effort to enhance your entering experience, often without you even touching the handle.
Have you seen any memorable handles whilst out shopping?
