‘Ready To Hang’ is Creating Mirrors That Reflect Your Personal Style

It’s not easy to get a new idea off the ground these days. Although the market is saturated with people trying, few seem to be getting it right, at least in terms of longevity. Among a whole spectrum of conditions and considerations, brand positioning is crucial to a newcomer’s success – but given that the design industry is largely one of two extremes (the ultra luxury and the mass-produced), choosing where to put yourself isn’t easy.

“On both ends of this spectrum, no brand is speaking directly to the style of the user and how they feel,” says Jeffrey Renz, the founder of a new mirror brand named Ready to Hang. “We’re muscling our way to the middle – we’re designer and small-batch, but with an accessible price point.”

Accessible is, of course, a relative word – and at a starting price of $600, the mirrors aren’t going to be something everyone can invest in. However, with many now opting to express their personal style through their surroundings, it could be a less-expensive option than an investment fashion piece.

“Fashion is always on the cutting edge when it comes to techniques, details, materials and color”

Incidentally, the fashion world has provided much of the inspiration behind Ready to Hang – not only in the designs themselves, but also the way that they release new products. Renz and his co-creators opted to adopt the “drop” system, in a bid to build intrigue. “Fashion is always on the cutting edge when it comes to techniques, details, materials, colors, design innovation, marketing and of course a big show,” Renz says. “There’s the other side of it too, that is even more important, which is how regular, everyday people use products related to personal style to express themselves in their own way and share their taste with the world”

For the latest drop, they cemented their intention to relate themselves to the fashion world by shooting an editorial that could be showcasing the clothes as much as the mirrors. Photographer Meryl Valerie captured models and mirrors together as one – the former styled with garments by the likes of Sandy Liang, Nanushka, Paloma Wool, Frankie Shop and Nomia.

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For Renz, fashion is one of the the most effective industries when it comes to providing a consumer with product that feels authentic and unique to themselves. After all, whether we’re conscious of it or not, we choose the clothes we wear for a reason.

With that in mind, his adoption of fashion-style editorial, and a drop system for releases makes sense. Sometimes, he says, the cues are much more literal, and have arrived in the form of mirrors inspired by Loewe’s inflated sunglasses, the color pallette of a Bottega Veneta striped sweater, shape from a Margiela backless dress. “Some examples of inspiration were using for new designs: Gucci printed maxi dress, metallic clasp on a vintage clutch, Loewe pixel concept, ribbon detail on a Simone Rocha dress,” he adds.

These details are translated through painted hardwoods across models titled “Puffer”, “Squeeze”, “Zip”, and “Bezel”.

Renz describes the process of creating Ready to Hang as a “long and bumpy road” – “I have been working on the idea for about three years now but it feels like just recently Ready to Hang has begun to find its voice, he says. Many conversations with creatives and advisors from all fields have been key to getting it over the line. These experiences contributed to the launch moment, late last year.

Now, he says, it’s about continuing to build that community.

“The home has always been a hidden and private place where a person’s design and style live,” he says. “Social media, where people can express themselves publicly without leaving their bedroom, has created a world where the indoors is now an extension of the outdoors. And although personal style and interior design have started to merge, but they still don’t feel authentically connected yet. That’s what we’re working on”