If you look at a site like The Container Store, you'll see a wide range of hanger designs—enough to meet most end users' needs. But designers have created hangers beyond the ordinary, filling niches that those ordinary hangers don't.

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The Pantone Universe Studio Hangers, designed by Holscher Design, come in various Pantone colors (such as Keepsake Lilac) and are certainly eye-catching, but they have somewhat limited uses. They're fine for jackets, and they might work well for shawls (which don't work well on many standard hangers). But they're not something the end user would want to use for shirts, blouses and such. They're 2.2 inches thick, which is more than many wooden hangers, so they can only be used where there's plenty of space.

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Ace hangers were designed to save vertical space by eliminating the long neck that most hangers have. The design is somewhat similar to the Hercules hanger from Magis that I've mentioned in the past. They can also help with shirts that have narrow neck holes, as the video illustrates. However, they might not fit on all closet rods, forcing the end user to buy a "combo pack" which includes hangers, rods and mounts.

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The Higher Hangers take a different approach to saving vertical space; they look much more like normal hangers, just without the long neck. They come in two styles: one made from HDF, and one with a slim velvet-coated design which keeps clothes from sliding off. This second design also has notches to accommodate clothes with straps. The Kickstarter for these Higher Hangers will be funded on March 31.

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Designs like this can allow double-hang rods to work where they otherwise might not. Some collared shirts might wind up lightly touching the rod—but Drew Cleaver, the creator, says that's really not a problem.

The Dream Big hangers for women and the Well Hung hangers for men look like normal high-quality wooden hangers, but they are specifically designed for those who need hangers for larger-sized clothes. The women's hangers are 19 inches wide and accommodate sizes 14 to 24. 

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Adjustable hangers might help other end users who have problems with hangers fitting their clothes properly. The Jori Adjustable Hangers can be adjusted to be 16, 17 or 18 inches wide. (For comparison, the tubular hangers at The Container Store are 16.5 inches wide.)

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The Jori hanger can also be disassembled to make it easy to pack in a suitcase. As someone who does sometimes put a hanger or two in my suitcase, I certainly see the appeal of having something that's compact.

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The Pliable hanger from Almove, designed by ddpstudio, seems super easy to stash away.

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But this hanger is somewhat oddly shaped when unfolded, which would limit its usefulness. For example, I couldn't use it for the clothes I hand wash and then hang to dry; they'd wind up with odd bumps.

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The Duo Hanger from Good Thing, designed by Visibility, incorporates a piece of aromatic cedar to help repel insects. This would be an especially nice feature on hangers used for woolens. With insect-repeling cedar blocks, vendors usually recommend lightly sanding the blocks when the fragrance fades (once a year, perhaps) and I suppose end users could take some sandpaper to these hangers, too.

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Faktura also makes a hanger called the Duo— but it's a totally different design, made from powder coated steel.

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This space-saving hanger allows the end user to keep clothing and accessories together. I can see this working well for items that are almost always worn together, but  it might cause confusion when there isn't that one-to-one relationship. 

Photo by Rolf Kueng

The Phasmatodea, designed by Nicola Stäubli, never went beyond the prototype, but it's certainly an interesting, unique product. This hanger allows the end user to hang clothes from a wall-mounted towel rod by extending out from the wall. It also serves as a hook rather than a hanger when it's flipped over.

I don't know how often end users need a product like this; one thought I had is that it might be useful for hanging up damp clothes in a bathroom. Some potential issues: If the end user's towel rack isn't the right distance from the wall, this design won't work. And I'm not sure I'd want a powder coated steel hanger rubbing up against the wall.