STRAP: a modular coat rack built from industrial transport components
Winner of DesignWanted’s fourth Ideas for Business call, STRAP by Vladislav Ganzen reinterprets an industrial object from the world of transport and logistics, turning it into a coat rack designed for contemporary domestic environments.
It is very likely that each of us — readers and non-readers alike — keeps at least one design object in our home, often without even realizing it. Not necessarily iconic pieces or signed products, but everyday items whose presence is taken for granted precisely because of their function. Alongside these timeless products, with or without a signature, there are objects that play an essential role in our daily routines, yet live like outcasts in the corners of our homes, often buried beneath other equally everyday items. When they break or get dented, we rush to repair them in the most imaginative ways, keeping them alive, yes, but still without granting them the dignity they deserve.
Ideas for Business was created precisely to restore value to pieces of furniture that are often sacrificed in home interiors because they are considered purely functional and practical, forgetting that in design these two aspects can — and should — meet the highest aesthetic standards. For its fourth call, DesignWanted invited both emerging and established designers to rethink the coat rack, challenging them to transform this everyday hanging system into a distinctive design object. STRAP by Vladislav Ganzen is the Absolute Winner of Ideas for Business Call #4, standing out for its ability to fully meet all the required criteria.
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Passionate about sketching, manufacturing techniques, prototyping, and 3D printing, product and industrial designer Vladislav Ganzen works in a prototyping and woodworking laboratory. It was there that he found the inspiration to create STRAP, a wall-mounted strap and hook system designed to function as a coat rack.
Ratchet straps are a tool Vladislav uses on a daily basis, and they already incorporate everything needed for this new purpose. Straps, hooks, buckles, and triangular rings become the essential components of this wall-mounted coat rack: an object that is both minimal and striking, occupying very little space while performing an essential function without sacrificing its aesthetic and decorative qualities.
The amount of material used to create STRAP is minimal, and it is based on the very same structure used in ratchet straps. All components are employed according to their original function, with no decorative additions, in order to highlight the essential structure of the coat rack. STRAP is composed of an industrial nylon strap, metal hooks for hanging objects, a self-locking buckle that allows the strap to be tensioned, and triangular metal rings that connect the system to the wall. By attaching to pins or screws fixed to the wall, the triangular rings keep the strap under tension, securing it both at the top and at the bottom.
Unlike most traditional coat racks, STRAP is designed to be modular. Different lengths can be combined: the coat rack is available in four formats—XL (180 cm, 4 hooks), L (150 cm, 3 hooks), M (120 cm, 2 hooks), and S (90 cm, 1 hook)—which can be mounted next to one another on the wall, creating a wall-mounted structure that is not only functional but also decorative.
Some coat racks have made design history thanks to their surprising ability to transform a silent, mundane, and standard domestic object into a piece of furniture meant to be displayed and celebrated. Just think of Hang-It-All by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra, or Sciangai by De Pas, D’Urbino and Lomazzi for Zanotta—both notably playful designs.
STRAP by Vladislav Ganzen stands out for its ability to transform a purely functional industrial object—traditionally unrelated to the world of furniture—into a unique, modular design piece, preserving its original components and even enhancing them through this new interpretation, making them perfectly suited for contemporary domestic environments.
