Hi Marianne, where does your love for the Memphis style come from?
The father of my Italian boyfriend, in the old days, lived in an Italian villa full of Memphis masterpieces – a crazy house! When we saw the “Memphis” exhibition in Beaubourg Museum in Paris, we rediscovered the Memphis roots and its fascinating “beautiful-ugly” atmosphere.

What are the main distinguishing features of this art movement?
Memphis is a maximalist stance against the design approach of the time, which was obsessed with minimalism and modern aesthetics. The color palette of the Pop Art movement, the geometric figures of Art Deco and the unusual aesthetics of the 1950s kitsch phenomenon inspired this movement. We can say that Memphis creates a pattern shock in reaction to the rational-minimalist dictatorship of those times. It is nonconformist, breaks all codes and values the power of expression much more than functionality.

The Memphis style is the counter-design to “form follows function” or “less is more”. Weren’t you always very close to this style with your design orientation anyway?
You could say so, but like all designers, we used to have some “rules of good taste,” such as not mixing strong patterns. However Memphis shock pushed us to try new ways to break our own rules.

The founder of the Memphis movement, Ettore Sottsass, once said “design begins where rational processes end, and those of magic start.” Does this attitude also apply to your eyewear design?
We are very much looking for this emotion as a way to validate our designs. When you like something at first sight, and you cannot explain why, you can be sure you are dealing with a strong aesthetic emotion, and that is a very exciting moment.

Which color worlds do we find in the new collections?
We enjoyed working on new purple and green combinations, black and white patterns with vivid colors, a mix of 80s and 70s colors, and daring big contrasts. We hope that you will like them.

Is there a focus on specific materials in the new collections?
Not really. It is more the art of recombining things, exploring new contrasts, but also new shades, such as duck green with smoked transparencies, deep violet shading, and burnt oranges. So maybe a spreading of 70s color in the air.

With your new collections, you appeal to the irrational and the unconventional. Which designs are special to you?
The Calder model has a titanium voluminous spiral that goes around the eyes. This concept gives a great sense of freedom and the frame seems to have been made in a single movement. But the great technical development behind it goes unnoticed. That’s why Calder is special to me. Also Gioco, which means “Play” in Italian, is one of my favorites because it evokes the playful spirit of Memphis’ basic shapes and colors. The Novva sunglasses are sophisticated and bold with sculptures, contrasts and rich transparencies.

How would you summarize the influence of Memphis on your designs?
Memphis’ theme of “elementary plays” definitely inspired us. We were looking for something between “naive childhood” and ” connoisseur knowledge” and we found it in the Memphis style.

Source: Favrspecs

September 2023

Could you tell us about the advantages of this merger for DEG?
Lars Flyvholm: So to summarise the advantages, there were 4 key elements that made really good sense in this merger… We have added the British design heritage, via a brand that also has a very strong identity as William Morris London. We also added a product which fitted into our portfolio with the right price and target point. Finally, we identified a real growth opportunity in markets where Design Eyewear Group has already established a very strong presence.

Do you plan to preserve the collection portfolio as it is?
Lars Flyvholm: Yes, we will offer the core William Morris London collection and the luxury William Morris line – the Black Label. Alongside them, there is also the Gallery Collection, created in partnership with the William Morris Gallery. These are the three core collections with the strong British identity. Then there is also Charles Stone New York – which has a positioning that is young, fashionable and fresh and this we consider as a second brand. We have been working with Robert and his product team in the UK and our Danish team to look at where the opportunities are here for growth and expansion. Certainly, there are plans to expand the Gallery collection in the near future, with of course a sunglasses range, which has not yet been created within this brand. The Gallery collection will see a special mini launch in August as well as an additional launch for the collection in January 2024.

William Morris London was launched at 100% Optical in the UK for the first time since the merger with DEG. Could you tell us about what your UK customers think about this merger?
Robert Morris: Yes, this is the first time that opticians here in the UK have had an opportunity to see the two companies side by side which I think is really great, it’s important – and it’s great to see that when people look at it they can really see it makes sense. There have been some really interesting conversations at 100% Optical. There are plenty of independent opticians who are buying William Morris London who might not be working with FACE A FACE or Prodesign, so they are interested to hear how Design Eyewear Group can channel that business into their stores. And vice versa. It’s important also for them to see how Design Eyewear Group have created a number of concepts to help and support independent opticians which William Morris can now offer on a broader scale. Design Eyewear Group is a real partner to the optician.

Lars Flyvholm: We have some programmes for example where we offer the opticians ways to dedicate a part of their shop to our brands within the store. We can do this with a mix of our brands. There is a financial incentive within this board programme which allows them a one to one exchange so for example if you have 60 frames from 3 of our brands you will have a rep visiting you 4 times a year – and they will be able to exchange what is not selling and optimise the board. This flexibility – and of course the financial incentive – is something that we’ve had since 2020 at Design Eyewear Group and people find it really flexible and they love the chance it gives them to try new brands. Of course, the William Morris and Charles Stone brands are now included in this programme. We also offer a loyalty programme – we call it the Ambassador programme – where if you buy more or work with more brands your benefits increase. I would also add that we are lucky that we have had no issues at all since Brexit, given our infrastructure. Everything is running very well for us. Our logistics for all brands are run out of Denmark.

Could you tell us about William Moris London’s brand history and its current position?
Robert Morris: We started out as a distribution company in 1996 called William Morris Eyewear. It was from there, that we decided to create our own brand from scratch, and that was William Morris London. From there, we saw a further demand for a more luxurious product and so we created William Morris Black Label, with a more premium price point. Traditionally, I would say around 80% of our customers have taken both William Morris London and Charles Stone New York, but this can vary from practice to practice. 90% now take William Morris London and Black Label as part of that offer.

For William Morris London, British identity is very important and we see that you carefully protect this identity.  How did you create your identity?
Robert Morris: I think product is one thing, but what is so crucial to William Morris is everything around the frame, the whole “British world” in which the collection has grown up, and all the add-ons to that such as the carefully styled POS.. At the shows in particular, it has always been great that people were able to meet the designer, to recognise the London bus which forms the basis of the stand…so it’s really important to keep the whole package alive and moving forward.

Lars Flyvholm: As we have our own team in America, we know that the story about great British eyewear will be a great success in the US moving forward. That positioning is extremely exciting. We like the fact that the branding is so strong, and that Robert is an ambassador for that. Of course, we realise also that we must ensure the brand can also standalone already, and we must find that balance…which I think comes through the design, the strength of the campaigns, which are always distinctive with colours and British details such as the Union Jack. William Morris London really has a strength here, and as Britain has this incredible recognition all over the world, we will continue to show this side of the brand’s British heritage.

Could you tell us about your thoughts on the merger of DEG and William Morris London and your future goals?
Robert Morris: The brand has to stand on its own, and I know it can, it has established itself in the UK and globally as a brand. Of course, I hope that with Design Eyewear Group the brand can be taken to a place where I perhaps couldn’t take it. I believe that with all the synergy we have this will happen sooner rather than later.

Lars Flyvholm: Certainly, we think that this merger is very good for both Design Eyewear Group and William Morris London and we will achieve great success together. We have our sights set on growth in the US, but also in Europe and in markets like France and Germany.

Source: 20/20 Europe

August 2023

Then we can say that your father made a significant contribution to your sense of style…
From a visual point of view, old photos of my family from the 1930s to the 1950s still excite me today. Based on their stylish outfits and the shape of the glasses, I can say that they were simply stylish. Based on these vintage photos, I started to create my own design sketches. On top of that, I was fascinated by the classic frame material cotton acetate and its fantastic properties. From my love for experimentation and the idea of integrating natural materials while preserving their wonderful colors forever, I created the ‘Colours of Nature’ collection.

We know that you and your husband Dieter work together to develop the Funkeyewear collections. Could you tell us a bit about your production workshop in the Bavarian countryside?
During our rebellious years in the nineties and early 2000s, we lived together in the heart of Munich. But in 2000, we felt the desire to make an uncompromisingly radical return to eyewear design with our own production facility. So moving to our new headquarters in the small town of Kinsau was a big change for the better. We finally have enough space to prepare all of our eyewear and to create our creative ideas. We also work with the best eyewear manufacturers and technicians in our workshop.

You also run a ‘transparent workshop’ in your center, open to the public. Do a lot of opticians stop by to witness the production?
Absolutely. And it’s not just our transparent workshop, the Funk Optical Store in Berlin Mitte also produces its own glasses. Here in Kinsau, there are a lot of people who learn how elaborate the production process really is through organized guided tours.

What are the main advantages of having your own production workshop?
First of all, I would say the ability to test new designs very quickly. Also the complete independence from external manufacturers is a big advantage for us. Because we have full control over the types of models we want to prioritize for finalization and shipment.

You have developed your own eponymous brand, Sashee Schuster, aimed specifically at female users. When and how did you establish the brand?
The Sashee Schuster brand has been presenting its collections for almost fifteen years. The motivation and support of my husband Dieter and the need to develop a brand of my own was the driving force behind the founding of Sashee Schuster. I was very lucky when I started my brand because I had the know-how and assurance of a strong team by my side.

What distinguishes your own designs from Dieter Funk eyewear?
I would say the clarity and simplicity of the designs. This is actually something Dieter and I have in common. But still, my collection is quite feminine while Dieter’s is quite masculine. So I would say we have a good harmony.

Do you both work independently on your own brands or is there some kind of brand building that happens hand-in-hand for both labels?
Each brand does its own photo shoots, lookbooks and campaigns. Naturally, there is some overlap in the external presentation of our brands. But this is more accidental than intentional. Also, the fact that both of our brands are produced in the same manufacturing facility is not a negative thing. But still, to answer your question, each collection stands on its own.

Which materials do you enjoy working with the most and why?
If we are being honest, acetate is our best friend. But we are even happier when titanium is involved. Acetate is an amazing raw material. The whole surface feel is beautiful, with several stages of polishing in the polishing machine and a final manual polish. Acetate also offers tremendous longevity in eyeglass frames. This is because with polishing you can immediately remove every scratch on the surface. So you can patch things, repair things, rework things and upgrade the final product. I really don’t know of any other material that allows you to do that.

Is it true that you have a secret archive of vintage transparencies at your headquarters?
Yes, Dieter is quite fond of his vast supply of vintage acetate weighing more than eight tons with a retrospective from the 1980s to the 2000s. We continue to create small batch collections from this source on a regular basis.

Are there any designs in your collections that could be described as your typical signature style?
As a common denominator, perhaps I would say our avoidance of unnecessary gimmicks on the temples. We like the temples simple and anatomically balanced, most importantly with the goal of perfect wearability. This means you don’t need flashy logos. In my own collection, I use my special lamination and finishing technique, probably from acetate, which results in one-of-a-kind glasses.

Sashee Schuster’s new campaign is all about the 1968 generation. Where did you get your inspiration from?
My sister Renate was a woman of the 1968 generation. Untameable, wild, free, provocative. It was a fascinating generation. She told me about Afghanistan and how women there could move freely and undisturbed in miniskirts on university campuses. India, where she met many gurus and free thinkers. True, we are talking about the 1968 generation born in the forties and fifties. The hippie generation of that time is now 70-80 years old. Their grandchildren probably have houses in the city and life insurance. In some cases I’m sure they adopted typical lifestyles that they never thought of living – rejected at the time because it was too stuffy. We can learn something from the ’68ers. They started the first mega-event, “Woodstock”, intuitively and without concept, but with courage and a great passion for music. Although they were often criticized for their mindset, they exemplified what love instead of war means, how to break the conservative strings and how to see the world with colored eyes. They influenced all the generations that followed. Look at your grandmothers with different eyes. They were fiery, independent, defiant women with dreams and flowers in their hair. In heart and soul, they still are. That’s why in the campaign for my new collection I wanted to say “Embrace your hippie grandmothers, embrace their spirit, carry it forward and keep it”.

Could we say that your campaign answers the question of what the women of the ’68 generation would look like today if they were still so wild, free and provocative?
This question inspired me to create images in dialog with artificial intelligence, which I believe represents that generation. So I put on them models of glasses that emphasize the beauty of the wearer across real-life generations. The technique of laminating with acetate, refined by years of experience, makes it possible to create the most beautiful works of art in Funk’s eyewear production. We have created unique pieces with flowers, seeds, feathers, silk and much more, and the cuts that accumulate in the eyewear workshop are not thrown away, but made into earrings or necklaces. From raw material to finished eyewear, all from one workshop.

Source: Favrspecs

July 2023

Why is innovation important to you? Hasn’t everything already been invented in glasses?
Innovation is part of our dna – the goal is to offer our customers something new and relevant that brings a tangible benefit that didn’t exist before. We strive to experiment with new materials and new design techniques to improve how our frames look, feel and weigh. This is our goal and it seems like it is relevant to others too. We serve over 25,000 opticians in over 80 countries worldwide. Our innovative materials and technologies matched with fine craftsmanship have been recognized with awards such as the Red Dot Award for Product Design. We are the only eyewear brand included in the Museum of Design in Milano. As we know our city is a world capital for design, and it was an honor to sit next to some of the best design brands like Ferrari, Ducati, Vespa, Boffi, Cappellini and so on. 

That’s an impressive track record. You also mentioned quality and craftsmanship. Can you elaborate on your approach in these departments?
We founded our brand along the idea of bringing a level of quality that is unparalleled at this price point. We believe that quality – even more so than price – is part of the definition of luxury. We want to bring this experience to a broad public, part of which may now be buying mainstream brands with an average level of quality. In this scenario we may be the first step into the world of independent boutique brands. Or in many other cases, our customers may be the ones that navigate this world already and enjoy how we constantly evolve our range, while still maintaining the highest possible craftsmanship standards.

Is there a new design direction for the SS23 collection?
For SS 2023 we are strengthening the design direction we have introduced last year. We are convinced this approach is enhancing the power of our families: Air, Bold, Sun.

Can you tell us about Air collection?
Modo’s Air frames have long been an attention-grabber, and SS 2023 is no different. Innovation fused with comfort and style – that’s what we’ve always sought to deliver with our Air frames. For SS 2023, we are introducing five new styles in multiple new colors. All benefit from our patented hinge technology to make them more durable and comfortable to wear.

What distinguishes the Bold collection?
Our Bold frames were first conceptualized to help our customers show off their sense of style and flair. Since then, we’ve continually updated the category with new additions that offer intense colors, unique shapes, and uncompromising construction materials. In 2023 we are having seven more stunning styles.

And the sunglasses?
At last, the Sun collection. In 2023 we will have five more options of frames that protect the eyes from the sun while showing off our sense of style at the same time. HCD (High Chromatic Definition) is our top-notch proprietary technology which makes our lenses stand out in the market for quality and technology. Together Polarized and Anti reflective features it sets us on a different level from most competitors.

You pay a lot of attention to the materials. Which materials do you prefer to work with at the moment?
We work with noble materials like titanium, beta titanium, the finest acetates and hi-tech plastics like our own R 1000 resin. At the moment R 1000 is what we and our customers are having more fun with. It is an incredible material that we picked from the aeronautics, a memory plastic, very resistant, flexible and light with a wide color range. This allows us to create the lightest thin and bold frames in the market. Our R 1000 + titanium line won the Red Dot Award, the IF Award and brought us amongst the finalists of the Compasso D’Oro Award.

Which technical features are typical for Modo?
We like to play with small technical details that are usually loved by opticians and experts and make our frames special for consumers, like our hinges for example. Our hidden screwless hinge delivers several key benefits – starting from no longer having to deal with a screw, which falls off and leaves you “eyewear-less” to include significantly increased stability, strength, and resilience for eyewear. The use of self-lubricating metallic surfaces ensures fluidity of motion and the smoothest rotation possible for a difference that can be felt each time the arms are folded or unfolded. It also enables a sleeker, more streamlined design. The resulting “invisible” hinges foster the ability to create entirely new designs, allowing us to use opaque colors to completely hide the hinge or translucent colors that showcase the hinge’s form and operation.

What are other special features that can be found in your glasses?
There is something big we started developing in SS23, it is a project we very much care about and it is all about customization of our Paper-Thin Rimless collection. This collection has grown to be a best-seller for us and is a real alternative to the leading brands in the market. We thought there still was some unexpressed potential. That’s why we now offer customers the possibility to compose their own frames, by choosing the lenses’ shapes, color combinations, the bridges’ and temples’ sizes.

What is the core of your new SS23 campaign?
Our roots are the core! We were founded in NY and later expanded into our three cities – NY, Milano and Stockholm. We shoot our campaigns rotating across each of them. For the SS23 campaign, we decided to build on our heritage and go back to where we were founded in 1990 – New York City. Because there’s no place like home. And because New York City’s environments and people are just as diverse as our collection of frames. Inspired by elements as varied as a rooftop in the heart of SoHo to the celebration of craftsmanship in Brooklyn’s Industry City, the SS23 campaign brings a vibrant new look and mood to the Modo brand. But one thing that will never change is our commitment to delivering quality, durability, and lightness, no matter where we go.

We can assume that Modo will continue in this direction in the future, right?
Probably yes. We were founded in 1990 along the concept of “Eyewear for the Individual”, which we feel stands fresh and relevant over 30 years later. Our mission to bring the best design, quality and innovation possible in our world remains the same – how we will roll it out along the way is what will evolve constantly. This is what excites us about the future and why we love our job.

Source: Favrspecs

June 2023