Glove story: we can’t keep our hands to ourselves with Zaha Hadid’s latest collaboration

Before she passed away in 2016, Zaha Hadid was working on a hands-on collaboration with Perrin Paris. Founded in 1893, the French accessories house is renowned for its glove-detail clutch bags, which seamlessly meld bag design and the human body. A couple of years ago, Hadid received one of these designs as a present – as it turns out, it’s a gift that keeps on giving with the launch of a new collaborative capsule collection by Perrin Paris and the architect’s studio.

The hand was a body part that resonated with Hadid. Her 2016 collaboration with Georg Jensen, for example, was composed of twisting cuffs and rings. Little surprise then, that the architect created a bold trio of spatial metal forms for the Perrin Paris collaboration, honing in on the area she preferred to adorn. ‘We were trained by Zaha to come up with various possibilities when working on projects,’ explains Maha Kutay, director at Zaha Hadid Design. ‘Originally we discussed the idea of one design, but three options were actually taken forward.’

Zaha Hadid and Perrin Paris’ collaboration on a seven-piece capsule collection, inspired by the latter’s signature glove clutch style

Characteristically architectural in the sweeping forms, the metal embellishments also riff on jewellery design. ‘They look more like pieces of jewellery when you’re holding the bag’ Kutay says. ‘Most of Perrin Paris’ previous production was about forming 2D elements and shaping them to become volumetric. Our approach is about sculpting 3D elements, which act like an extension of the arm.’ This dynamism is reinforced in the functional nature of each swooshing metallic detail, which can be slipped onto either hand.

‘We always refer to old paintings that Zaha created,’ explains Kutay of the collection’s colour palette. Black, white and blush interpretations are complemented with gold and silver finished metal forms, while Klein Blue and post-box red versions are entirely monochrome. ‘Zaha liked Klein Blue quite a bit,’ Kutay adds. ‘We’ve also used it on some other furniture pieces. For us it felt like it was a good way of emphasising Zaha’s presence within the collection.’ The styles will be sold on Farfetch, and through Zaha Hadid Design and Perrin Paris’ own websites.