This image is a Combination Leather Tube Split Stitch-In Long
Pull Handle, made by Turnstile Designs. At a guess, I would say that there is
probably no European hotel built or refurbished in the last five years that
does not have this handle in the Lobby and quite possibly, along every Corridor.
We met the owner of Turnstile a few times. Can’t remember his
name now, sorry, Steve Roberts, he is called. He had a stand at an exhibition
in London back in the mid-nineties where we were three stands up from him. We
were all just starting out then and it was probably as big a risk for him as it
was for us. Pleasant enough guy, ex-Public School with an interest in Art and
Interior design. We really thought he was way off beam trying to sell his
leather handles to the construction market. Kitchens and Homes & Gardens
weirdos maybe but major building projects? You need a complete range of
products for architects, hinges and locks and everything in between. And what
happens to the leather when you use it externally?
We met him again a couple of years later, where we both had
larger stands and he had begun to get the measure of his market. He had a wider
range, not just leather but ceramics . . . still the same idiosyncratic designs
. . . but there was the beginning of a comprehensive, across the board product
family there now.
I haven’t seen him since those early days but I see from his
website that he has a very successful company now, not least I should imagine,
because his products are un-copyable by the Chinese. I hope he continues to
prosper.
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