Fashion trends can spark hardware design
Spotting and tracking design ‘nuggets’ key to launching timely product designs
that resonate.
Knikki Grantham, trends manager at
hardware maker Belwith-Keeler, finds
design inspiration in a variety of areas.
And it’s her love of design, from fashion
to architecture, that has led to Belwith-Keeler’s introduction of beautiful
and innovative pieces of hardware.
“I was taught by the best in the
industry,” she says, “but I think when
you love something and enjoy design,
and that aspect of it, it’s something that
you spend your free time doing, versus
it being a job. When I have spare time,
I’m looking at Instagram and other sites
and magazines and research, and trying
to just always stay on top of my game.”
Grantham, who has background
experience working for a contract
furniture manufacturer, started with
Belwith-Keeler about 2-1/2 years ago.
“I saw an opportunity here, and
they were looking for someone to do
the OEM sector, but who understood
design, also. It was a kind of a unique
position because of my relationships in
the furniture industry of 20 plus years,
and all of my product development and
design, and all of the associations that I
had, and then being able to spot a trend
really early, it kind of morphed into…
[what I do now],” she says. “I still do
some of the OEM accounts, but I really
primarily work with our design, mar-
keting, and sales team, on the direction
that we need to go, as a company, in
trends.”
Grantham says that her job as trends
manager is to spot trends, analyze and
validate them and then designers on the
team take that information and inter-
pret it into a product design. This work
typically begins two years in advance
in order to stay ahead of the curve to
hit the trend at the right spot for the
