‘It’s not possible to go back in time to the very first cane. We can only imagine it started with someone picking up a small branch, trimming off the smaller twigs, and using it for a walk in the woods.’ Japanese designer Keiji Takeuchi’s musings on walking sticks – simple in form, yet complex in the nuanced layers of its associations with ageing today – form the foundation for a project exploring a spectrum of personal takes on the object.
Takeuchi, based in Milan since 2012, asked 17 designer friends around the world – among them, Cecilie Manz, Pierre Charpin, Jasper Morrison and Marialaura Irvine – a seemingly simple question: what kind of walking stick would they wish to use themselves?
