Florence Deau 
For over four years now, German fellow blogger Kai Petermann has dedicated his personal passion for great design and a whole lot of heart’s blood for his digital project Stilsucht.de : an essential source of inspiration for all lovers of good, cutting edge and fresh design. The time has now come for him to take the next step and carry the designs from the digital stage / platform into the real world.
I am delighted to present to you Stilsucht’s first product designed by Thomas Schmitz : the Cliffhanger, a smart little hook built solely for Stilsucht and available exclusively through its own online shop. Additional products / items are in the works.
Kai, congrats on your project and initiatives! This is the way young, exclusive design comes directly to the reader’s doorstep. I’m eagerly looking forward to discovering the next products. :-)
The Cliffhanger is a design by Thomas Schmitz and its natural habitat is primarily – but not exclusively – in typical German “Altbau” high ceilinged, raw, pre war buildings apart- ments, since two parallel water pipes are necessary to utilize the clever helper. Cliffhanger is simply clipped between them and is then available as a flexible hook.
“No matter whether you want to warm up the bath towel, hang a net of onions, lemons or potatos in the kitchen or want to clear away jackets and coats, the hook is versatile and universally usable and convinces through its wonderfully unpretentious appearance while being easily fastened by its own weight.”
“The first batch comes in five different colors and each is an ode to the heart of cities. Berlin is represented by an urban Kreuzberg gray, Munich is a friendly Schwabing blue, Cologne has a sunny Ehrenfeld yellow, Frankfurt hails with a cordial Bornheim red and Hamburg shows a maritime Schanze blue.”
“By the way, Cliffhanger is made in Berlin and was developed in the Stephanus workshops Berlin, a non profit workshop for social and vocational integration and rehabilitation of disabled people.”
You can order the Cliffhanger through Stilsucht for 19,00€ (plus shipping).
About : Thomas Schmitz initially came from a small village near Lake Constance, Germany. After finishing school he moved to Berlin, where he fulfilled his civilian service. The following year, he began his studies of product design in the FH Potsdam.
He used the various possibilities Berlin provided and attended a number of classes at the UdK Berlin and the KHB Weißensee, Berlin. Furthermore, he attended two trimester at the ELISAVA in Barcelona and afterwards gathered first experiences as an intern at the design studio HAW in Berlin.
Through October 2011 and April 2012 Thomas works as first an intern, then an employee at Berlin designer Mark Braun’s studio. The collaboration with Stilsucht began in spring of 2012, even before the young designer had completed his Master’s Thesis.
Photos © Moritz Thau
Design: Thomas Schmitz / Copyright: Thomas Schmitz & Stilsucht
