Veronika Wildgruber

Multitalented designer Veronika Wildgruber began her career in eyewear alongside the celebrated Alain Mikli in Paris. After that, the young creative went on to win a Silmo D’Or with no less than her first ever frame design. Twelve years later, with commissions by brands including Hermès under her belt, Eyestylist catches up with the now established and highly regarded director and founder of her namesake eyewear label. 

 Tell us about your early life, and the journey you have taken in order to get to where you are today? I studied industrial design in Bolzano, Northern Italy. I think when I applied, my first intention was to be a graphic designer. I had liked my classes in industrial design and communication design and actually right up to the first half of the year, I realized that I really wanted to do product design and create objects. So, I graduated in industrial design and my plan was to become a furniture designer or a household object / interior designer. Then, I started to work in Paris doing an internship with a designer who was working with fashion as well as in product design.

Tiberius by Veronika Wildgruber

I intended to stay in Paris for four months, and in the end I stayed for years. After the internship I got into working a freelance job which rolled into another freelance job and so forth. Eventually, I began working for an Italian designer who shared his space with an eyewear maker Jacques Durand who was working alongside Mikli at the time. He was a big name in the city – everybody was talking about Mikli. To be honest, I didn’t really know Lee’s glasses because I was not involved with and didn’t have any contact within the industry. I never truly thought about working with him. It was all very new for me. In the moment it was more like an arrangement, sort of like “let’s share the space and maybe my assistant can give you some assistant work as well”. Then, from my perspective, it was solely about a paid job – you know, of course a rarity in the design area. So I said, yes. I think he also believed it was interesting to have somebody who was a designer, but didn’t know anything about his area – something that would make it interesting, and someone he would actually quite like to do some projects with.

He asked me to help on some collections and to design with my own eye. I have to say it wasn’t something I was always yearning to do, but I thought I’d like a bit of a challenge. It wasn’t at all a window into my future career at first, but it was more like, why not try it?

I crafted my first design with cardboard because I didn’t really know how to approach it. So, then we created the prototype frame with a model maker in acetate and presented it at Silmo in 2010 – and it won a Silmo D’Or! It felt like my first real moment after joining the eyewear world. It was a big surprise.

Briggs by Veronika Wildgruber

At the time I didn’t have a brand or a name in the industry, so the frame was just a number, without even a title. I think that kind of led me to believe I had a talent for design in this area, and pushed me to start this journey. I thought, if I am going to do it, I’ll do it with my own name – not as a collaboration or in a position working for someone else – but to try it for myself. From then on it was a strange and slow start: four pairs of glasses and two years later another four pairs of glasses and so on. It was never really a launch, you know, or a collection. That’s why I consider my growth into this world really organic; I wasn’t jumping in the deep end, I wanted to keep up my work in furniture design too – I would’ve felt as though I was cheating on my original dream if I had neglected it.

I understand you design for a number of luxury labels across a multitude of areas, one of which being Hermés – what is your opinion of luxury / fashion house eyewear brands VS independent labels, in terms of how they work? That’s an interesting question, especially in terms of comparison with Hermès. I can only speak about that brand, because I have only worked within that brand and it’s my own reference. But to be honest, I think they work almost like an independent label. I mean, they’re still mainly family owned, they produce a lot of things in France and they have really high standards in terms of morals and ethics regarding their employees as well as their production process and materials. So, I really admire them.

Since being invited to and attending their silk screening process (in making their famous scarves); the final setup, the drawing and it’s printing, I really understand now why all of this has a certain price. There’s so much craftsmanship and so many steps and work that goes into it. I really appreciate that they do this. I think they’re a very good example of how a big scale company can work.

Of course, I know for other luxury companies this same perception is not valid. They have to make certain turnovers, they have targets and of course they produce so that the cost is lower and the production is cheaper. So I think Hermès is maybe not the best company to compare independent labels to, because, as I said, I think they act quite like an independent label themselves.

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I actually think maybe this approach, the money saving approach, serves independent labels as opposed to threatening them. I mean, opticians are aware of the discrepancies between both luxury monopoly brands and independent labels; if someone is looking for a frame that is more authentic, handmade or with a narrative, they’re going to suggest an independent label. In short, these luxury labels don’t really cloud the industry for independent brands, it actually gives them an opportunity to shine through.

As aforementioned, you work within a multitude of areas – did you always want to explore eyewear or did you simply want to work within design in any capacity? I still work across all those areas, so I always kept my design studio work ongoing and then I realised at a certain point that I quite liked to create not just one but multiple aspects of a brand. So of course the eyewear itself, but then the whole communication, the imagery, the logo etc. Yes, the product and the thing I design is glasses, but I like taking care of the entire brand; trying to reinvent certain things, add things as well as to establish and reinvent new things. I have to say in the beginning, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be in this world – completely. Sometimes I have these moments still, I can loathe my design for several days and then all of a sudden, after sticking with and trusting the process, the following day I really love what I do and what I’ve created. It’s funny. Ultimately though, I think what I love about eyewear the most is that it’s something people actually need. I mean, it’s almost like a prosthesis: it helps people to see, so you don’t have to question yourself about what you’re designing and why. The answer is simple – like people need food, they need quality eyewear, they wear it all day every day and it’s necessary to be able to see. That’s what I love the most, and probably – a big part of why I’ve stuck around.

Do you have a preferred area of work? I can’t really say. I like eyewear, and I think now sometimes I feel a bit more comfortable with it because I’ve been doing it for 10 years now, but when I take on a new project – one I’m less experienced in – I also really like the challenge of that. Somehow though, the process is a bit more painful because I’m more insecure and I have to think more or I have to really work hard to get the result I want. That being said, perhaps that even satisfies me more? It really depends on the project. As long as I’m interested and enjoying whatever project I’m working on, on a personal level, then I consider it to be a positive one. If I wouldn’t buy it myself or if I don’t love it myself, my job is not done. It’s like picking your favorite child, you cannot pick one. Right?

How do you find your work in jewellery design influences your work in eyewear if at all? Well, the thing for me was that it went the opposite way. I was designing eyewear and then I was asked to do one jewelry project for Hermès, and the rest is history. I don’t have a background in jewelry, but then the pieces we did for Hermès were crafted in horn which is quite thick and similar to acetate in terms of manipulation and use. Also, we actually did design a rim that we had to put the rope through in the same way you would put the lenses into the frame. It’s all on a really small scale. So, I suppose perhaps in terms of technique as opposed to design approach, it was quite similar to my experience in making glasses.

Where do you source inspiration from? It’s not so easy to say. I think I have a great need for aesthetics, clean and pure visuals. I only feel good when certain things are a certain way, I like clarity and contrast. It could be a lamp in the street, a smooth surface by a rough one or even a strikingly nice colour, or one I hadn’t noticed in a while. The other day, for example, I noted the colour of our house. It’s really nice! I haven’t seen it for weeks. I’m even more inspired when I’m somewhere else for that reason. When I’m home I’m used to my surroundings, whereas when I travel I am more observant, taking everything in and actively looking around. I find myself less inspired by other objects and more inspired by abstract sources like these, the finite details and the little things.

What is your opinion on sustainability within the eyewear business? Good question. I think this is another reason why I like working with eyewear in general. In itself it is already quite sustainable; it’s a small, mostly metal or acetate object that people wear daily, so it’s already not so bad. You don’t throw glasses away after a week or two. I think it’s more the production waste and packaging that we need to focus on, in terms of the environmental impact. We need a more circular system. How we produce and where we produce needs to be scrutinised. Reusing leftovers and discarded materials as well as being conscious as to where we source them in the first place, for example. There are things like Dermo lenses, for example, that are still not recyclable and I really do think there should be a better way by now. There are solutions out there that make total sense, we just need to find them.

Do you see sustainability becoming more of a ‘given’ for eyewear brands rather than a trend or selling point? I see it coming for high end brands I think. Simply because I don’t think you can justify disregarding the environment and remaining unconscious to the world around you when you’re that big. It should be more of a given in the future for sure, we’re not there yet, but we’ll get there. I think a demand for local production and the fact that customers are more interested in the origins of their frames is going to spark this change.

What are your predictions and hopes for the future of eyewear? I hope and believe that there are still a lot of surprises to be had in terms of new materials we haven’t discovered or used yet. More innovative methods of manufacturing or production. I think we’ll look back in a few years and say why didn’t we do this before? Speaking of aesthetics, I think more ‘invisible’ eyewear could be next. Not everyone wants to make a statement or wear a piece of art, there’s a demand for minimalist frames and I think combined with my prediction of technical innovation it could be exciting – I hope it’s exciting, anyway. I am working on a new recyclable material for my own frames. I can’t say too much because it’s a work in progress, but that would be a really interesting material too – if it works out. So, hopefully you’ll see the results very soon! Find out more at www.eyewear.veronikawildgruber.com Interview by Victoria Brunton exclusively for Eyestylist.com