Paul Smith x Vanhulsteijn
Vanhulsteijn, creators of special handcrafted bicycles, introduces the Urushi bicycle. The bike was presented at Salone del Mobile in Milan in an exclusive collection hosted by UK designer Paul Smith.
The name of the bike refers to the sap of a Japanese tree, which transforms to a hard, durable substance that resembles plastic when exposed to moisture and air. Employing traditional Japanese urushi techniques in combination with Vanhulsteijn’s own respect for craftsmanship, the company team created a highly requested limited edition collection of nine bicycles through a long labour-intensive working process. The bicycles each come with an entirely unique finish made by mixing gold leaf with the urushi lacquer.
The Dutch designer Herman Vanhulsteijn experimented with numerous artistic visions before he re-imagined the bicycle. The Vanhulsteijn company started selling bikes to friends, relatives and passers-by in 2009. Since then, the company has developed into artists in bicycle craftsmanship, but despite the growth the team has kept their humble location in a working class quarter in Arnhem and continues to produce each piece by hand.
Acknowledging the exceptional design and talent behind the production of the bicycle, Paul Smith, who has always had a passion for cycling, teamed up with Vanhulsteijn to host the exhibition. Smith finds the engineering of the bikes to be rather creative and innovative, noting that bicycles often are restricted to classic designs. Breaking free of this design to create something out of the ordinary takes real courage “and I take my hat off to them”, as Smith mentioned referring to Vanhulsteijn.
To purchase the bike enquire at www.vanhulsteijn.com.
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