YouTube Star's Incredible Clothes Hanging Hack Brings in $200K on Kickstarter in Two Days
The "Coat Hinger" exceeded all expectations when it launched on Kickstarter last week, and it's not done yet.
Inventor and YouTuber Simone Giertz just launched a Kickstarter campaign with modest expectations, but the payoff has already been enormous. Giertz announced "The Coat Hinger" on Thursday and sought $50,000 in crowdfunding. At the time of this writing, the campaign is at nearly $249,000 – and that number is still rising.
Giertz explained her "Coat Hinger" invention in a YouTube video on Thursday, demonstrating not only the product but the process she went through to design it. She started out hoping to tackle the challenge of hanging clothes and jackets in a small living space, without the need for them to stick out from the wall the full width of a coat hanger. Her idea was a hanger that would fold in half and then hold that shape, essentially halving the space needed. The end result is a hanger made from sturdy metal wire with a two-part plastic hinge in the middle, and it looks so simple yet so satisfying.
Even in her video, Giertz seemed hesitant about the crowdfunding campaign and nervous that it wouldn't meet its goal. She structured it as an "all or nothing" project, which means that backers wouldn't be charged for their Hinger unless the campaign met its goal of $50,000. However, they also meant they'd have to get all that funding just to get one for themselves. She set a one-month timeline to meet that mark, but now she has all the orders she can handle.
Giertz has a huge following online with nearly 2.7 million subscribers on YouTube. Her content is all about design and creation, and this isn't her first successful product launch. Her Yetch store also features jewelry, decorations, aparrel and a unique calendar. The Coat Hinger is listed on the site but is not available for sale directly. Customers must go through the Kickstarter at the time of this writing.
Right now, backers have a few options for purchasing Hingers and dedicated shelves to hang them from. A single Hinger costs $20, while a pack of 12 costs $75. After that, you could order a set of 12 Hingers with a small wall-mounted bracket for $135, or a large bracket with 24 Hingers for $200. Finally, the biggest package comes with 24 Hingers and a dedicated shelf for $270. Since this project is so new, there's no word on when those packages will be shipped out. The campaign remains live until Dec. 16.