Opening Doors

Interior designers and architects lend their names and designs to licensed and collaborative products for use in all nooks and crannies of the home. One category that may not be top of mind but which has long relied on collaboration as a key strategy is home hardware, notably door and cabinet handles, especially of the higher-end variety.

Some of the key players include:

• Accurate Lock and Hardware. In August, it announced a pairing with Jay Jeffers, interior designer and author, who also has a furniture and home décor line with Arteriors. Accurate also markets several collections of door hardware under the Thom Filicia for Accurate brand in a deal that launched in 2021; Felicia is an interior designer best known for his time on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

• Rocky Mountain Hardware. Rocky Mountain partnered earlier this year with Kravitz Design, the interior and product design firm launched by musician, actor, and designer Lenny Kravitz. This marks his first entry into the hardware category. Other current collaborations for Rocky Mountain include collections with Robert AM Stern Architect (RAMSA), interior designer Roger Thomas, HOK Product Design, and furniture designer Ted Boerner.

• Modern Matter. Modern Matter, launched by jewelry company Addison Weeks, has collaborations in place currently with interior designer Sarah Bartholomew, who has created two collections to date; Barrie Benson, another interior designer whose range features semiprecious gems; Eddie Ross, a food editor and kitchen specialist whose array uses materials including faux tortoise and solid brass; home goods brand Kravet; and interior and product designer Michelle Nussbaumer, whose collections are inspired by her travels around the world.

• Quincalux. This Belgian luxury brand’s partnerships focus mostly on Belgian designers, with current collaborators including product designer Frederik Delbart, interior designer Julien Renault, the team of architect Lieven Musschoot and product designer Cas Moor, and lighting designer Jeffrey Huyghe.

• Schwinn Hardware. The company’s Schwinn Originals brand works with Michael Graves Design, the firm carrying on the work of late architect Michael Graves, for sustainable, modern door pulls and knobs. Other creative names with which Schwinn has had collections include architect and designer Max Bill, furniture designer Bodil Kjaer, industrial designer Dieter Rams, furniture designer Nanna Ditzel, architect William Lescaze, interior and furniture designer Jens Risom, architect Egon Eiermann, furniture designer Paul McCobb, architect and interior designer Alexander Girard, furniture designer Jasper Morrison, aluminum die-cast manufacturer August Schatte, and furniture designer David Allan Pesso.

• Olivari. Olivari, an Italian luxury brand, has collaborated with more than 60 designers and architectural firms since its founding in the 1930s. Recent product introductions have involved the likes of architect and furniture designer Antonio Citterio, architect Carlo Colombo, industrial design studio Barber Osgerby, and lighting designer Michael Anastassiades.

• Maison Vervloet. In business in Belgium since 1905, Maison Vervloet’s recent collaborations have included introductions from interior designer Pierre Daems and architectural names including Vincent Van Duysen, Juma, and Glenn Sestig. These are just a few of the broad spectrum of collaborators with which the company has worked over the years.

• Izé. A British company, Izé has worked with dozens of design partners through its history, including some of the biggest names in architecture, such as Walter Gropius and Anton Gaudí, as well as more recent examples such as Zaha Hadid Design, with which it partnered in 2020. Most of its collaborators are architects, but interior and product designers are represented as well.

These luxury hardware companies, many of which are based in Europe, primarily sell their hardware to interior designers and architects to use in their building, renovation, and interior design projects, rather than focusing on the consumer market directly.