Designers Knuckle Down. 25 items of Fashion, Furniture & More Inspired By Brass Knuckles.

Brass Knuckles, also referred to as Knucks or Knuckle dusters are weapons originally designed for use in hand to hand combat. Some derivations of them go as far back as ancient Rome. In World War I and World War II, they were incorporated into knife handles and blades. If you didn't know, the possession of and use of these are illegal in all 50 states in the US as well as in several other countries.


above: Knucks Tatt by Justin Bolonski, Integrity Tattoo/ Wizards One, Royersford, Pa

But that hasn't stopped them from serving as inspiration for many a designer. Cast as belt buckles and fine jewelry, as ornamentation on furnishings, incorporated into mugs, umbrellas, purse handles, paintball guns and as heels for shoes-- various designers and artists can't get enough of the classic weapon. See for yourself.

The Umbuster: Umbrella with Brass Knuckles handle:

buy it here.

Knuckle Duster Mugs:

buy it here.

Want a 24k gold plated one? Then check out the Gold Knuckles Mug:

Available in black, red or white with 24k gold plated knuckle handle
buy it here.

KNUCKLED custom brass knuckle stiletto heels from Tattoo Apparel:

buy them here.

Saddle shoes with brass knuckle heels from HowCool:


buy these here.

Howcool.com also carries brass knuckle hair bobbles (ponytail holders), brass knuckle scarves, earrings, bandanas, belt buckles, hats and more. See them all here.

Rihanna AND Beyonce rocked the same pair of killer brass knuckle boots by DSquared:


The above boots by Dsquared have been lusted after by many, but were either or custom design or are no longer available.

Need some accessories to go with those Brass Knuckle Heels and shoes? Then how about these handbags.

The Peacekeeper 300 is a leather purse with Brass Knuckle handles by James Piatt:


buy it here.

The Punch Bag by Freedom Of Creation is a laser sintered polymide mesh bag with a Brass Knuckle handle that comes in 2 sizes and is available in black or white as well:


buy it here.

Looking for a dressier bag? Ther Knuckle clutch by Akademiks may be just the thing:

no longer available.

Felon Clothing brand makes everything from Zippo lighters, belt buckles, patch wallets and shirts with their Knuckle Duster "Drink, Fight Fuck" logo:



buy the lighter and buckles here.


buy the wallet and work shirt here.

Brass Knuckles Wine opener by Vest Collective:


I can't seem to find the Vest Collective bottle opener anywhere anymore... good thing a reader brought the one below to my attention-- The Bourgeois Brass Knuckles by Ministry of the Interior in Canada (thanks Warren!):

purchase info at the end of this post.

Clean up and kick ass at the same time with the glycerin soap in the shape of Brass Knuckles:

Buy it here.

Bad Boy designer Ted Nemeth uses brass knuckles as accessories on many of his wicked furniture designs:




learn all about Ted Nemeth here.

Fist Fire makes a Brass Knuckle metal chair available in 2 finishes:


learn more here.

There are many brass knuckle pendants, earrings and more, but these solid 18k and 14k yellow gold brass knuckle pendants by Pnut are my favorites:



They also have sterling silver and blackened knuckle pendants too:

buy them here.

For those who don't have the coin to drop on real gold brass knuckles jewelry, here's an alternative. Good Wood NYC makes a bunch of fun affordable wooden knuckle duster rings:


buy them here.

Doja clothiers of Santa Cruz makes and sells T-shirts black or white with their Brass Knuckle logo on it:

buy it here.

Cute and Cozy Brass Knuckles? You bet.
Brass Knuckle Bob and Silver Knuckle Sally are even Plush Toy Brass Knuckles!Made by Michelle Valigura and produced by switcheroo.



You can buy them here (if still available).

The Knuckle Comb designed by Ewa Bochen and Maciej Jelski of Poland was an entry into Designboom's Beyond Silver competition:



learn more about it here.

For you paintballers, there's even a Brass knuckles knob for your Halo rip drive:

buy them here.

The FatJab is a handheld graffiti paint sprayer based on the brass knuckle design by Vincent Leclerc. The FatJab allows artists to print patterns and stories on any surface in the physical space. You simply hold it on your fist, point it against a surface, select a pattern with the thumb joystick and spray away.



learn more about it here.

Zazzle has over 263 items featuring brass knuckle art including skate decks, ties, aprons, hats, ties and tees:



See them all here.

Last minute addition! (thanks to reader Warren)
The Bourgeois Brass Knuckles are a cross between two iconic objects whose cultural and socio-economic associations lie at opposite ends of the spectrum. Originally designed by Jonathan Sabine, the BBK is being produced in a numbered limited edition of 50 by the Chromoly studio in Toronto. Chromoly is a collaboration between designer Jonathan Sabine and art director Adam Pickard.



Each chrome plated Bourgeois Brass Knuckle comes in a laser etched handmade walnut box. They'll be released at Ministry of the Interior, Friday May 20th 2009. They can be picked up for $120.00 CAD. learn more here.

Amd there you have it. Tons of items that kick butt.


UPDATE: MUST SEE the new 2009 Alexander McQueen Knuckle Duster Clutches here!

Smellavision: New Chanel No.5 Film (quotes, stills, casting and more)

Chanel has just released their latest promotional film (shown at the end of this loooong post) for their classic fragrance, Chanel No. 5. This is the third in a series of films for Chanel Fragrances. The two previous were Baz Luhrmann's starring Nicole Kidman in 2004 and Joe Wright's starring Keira Knightly in 2007. The two and a half minute film will soon air in edited versions as tv commercials.


above: Not so coincidentally Audrey Tautou plays Coco Chanel in Anne Fontiane's 2009 movie Coco Avant Chanel.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who has shot 40-50 previous advertisments as well as films like Delicatessen and Amélie, talks about his experience filming the latest Chanel No.5 film with 33 year old French actress Audrey Tautou, which also stars model turned actor Travis Davenport.



Here's the upshot:
The 2 minute and 20 second film (Jeunet says it's "not an ad") for Chanel No. 5 is about chance meetings, fate, romance and more. In the behind the scenes interviews, the director makes it clear that he loved working for Chanel, he was given a great deal of freedom on the script, he knew he wanted to cast Audrey Tautou (Jean Pierre and Audrey have made 2 previous movies together) and Audrey helped him to choose the male lead from several actors in the running; Travis Davenport.


above: Chanel No. 5 bottles through the years.

The director had always wanted to shoot on a sleeper train, so when he got the brief from Chanel, he was surprised at how well it fit with what he'd always wanted to do. They wanted black dark images with reflections of light and emotion.

The film was shot in Istanbul.

If you're like most people, you don't really have the time to fully investigate the depth of the nice site where Chanel posts the film, along with many interviews, behind the scenes stills and more. So, I've abbreviated the info for you here. By choosing particular screen grabs and comments (albeit truncated and out of context), I can share with you the basic gist of the project.

Below are screen grabs and visual sound bites that sum up the experience as shared by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and actress Audrey Tautou.

"It's a real film, it's cinema. It's not really an ad."

"It's like patronage: a short movie financed by Chanel."

"...the emotions induced by a scent is an interesting challenge"

"I love stories of fate and chance"

"so I wrote in missed encounters and regrets"

because "years later you say, I should have taken a chance."

"the editing was a nightmare...

..because there were so many great moments."


On casting Audrey:

"It was obvious Audrey would be my first choice"

"I needed an extremely expressive actress for very the short shots"

"just her eyes, which I know so well..so I suggested her to Chanel"


On casting Travis Davenport (apparently Audrey chose him):

"we wanted a young man with a certain femininity and also sincerity."

"Travis, the young man in the movie with me,

isn't an actor, but he's wonderful in the film."

"He had to look like he'd fallen head over heels in love...

under the perfume's spell"

"He portrayed it beautifully."


On the set design of the sleeper train:

drawings of the sleeper train compartment


" all the components were brought in from Venice"

"we recast them and did the chrome and inlay"

"Real luxury craftsmen's work."


On product placement and branding:

The director says it was his idea to actually put the bottle in the film because it worked so well in producing light and reflections.


"I won't use (the word) 'product' as it sounds very commercial..."

"...but I put the bottle in the story since it was on a sleeper train..

... and used it to cast light and reflections."

The bottle did create lovely reflections and according to Audrey, this was her favorite scene to shoot:


Of the ending of the mosaic of the 2 Cs in the Chanel logo (shown below in drawing and final shot) , Jeunet says, "ideas like that immediately won over the House of Chanel."




On filming in Istanbul:

Did you choose Istanbul because Venice was too obvious?

"I wanted to discover Istanbul and this was a great chance."

The director describes the city as "hard to film, not always a graphic city"

"we filmed on the Bosphorus amid billion ton tankers"

Stills from the set:








and earlier this month, Sassybella shared these storyboard frames with us:

The 2 and a half minute film:

To see the complete interviews, the film in HD and lots more video of the making of, visit the official site here.