The ‘face’ of Eschenbach is Germany’s soccer legend, Jurgen Klopp. He’s the perfect representative for the company’s lead brand – TITANflex. Both are renowned for their flexibility, durability, strength… and success.
Jurgen Klopp played for Mainz 05 in the German football league for 11 years before taking over as manager for a further seven. He succeeded in having Mainz 05 promoted into the Bundesliga (Germany’s top football league) for the first time, and in 2008, became the manager of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. He led that club on a meteoric rise, culminating in two successive Bundesliga titles in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.
As Klopp is to German football, so was Josef Eschenbach to his eponymously named optics company, Eschenbach. Josef Eschenbach started his wholesale business for ‘optical articles and technical drawing instruments’ in 1913, showing the foresight and talent that allowed the company to grow into a world leader in optics.
Eschenbach today employs more than 550 people and has 12 subsidiaries including European Eyewear in Australia. Its head office is in Nuremberg, Germany, a city better known for gingerbread, sausages and handmade toys.
Their style is sometimes sporty or casual but always classical, timeless and authentic
The company’s modern day success can largely be attributed to TITANflex. That’s both the name of its lead brand and the high tech, lightweight memory material it developed in 1988 and continues to use in the TITANflex collection. While technical features are at the heart of TITANflex, design is becoming increasingly important. Harald Heinrich is the creative brain driving the brand forward and right now he’s preparing to relaunch TITANflex with a new fashion-forward focus.
mivision was lucky enough to steal a few moments with Harald and talk to him about his approach to design.
Q: How did you get into eyewear design?
I studied Industrial Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and went on to enjoy some really exciting experiences in automotive design. By chance, I was given an opportunity to work with a company in the optical industry and I took it, expecting to work there for two or three years. But I found it was an exciting area to work in – and more challenging than working on technically oriented car and motorbike design. I went on to work with several optical companies, often as a freelancer and then I joined Eschenbach 12 years ago. So you can see, it was not planned, but somehow inevitable.
Q: Who is your typical customer?
Our typical customers are males, around the age of 40. They are masculine, very sporty and with a strong work ethic. Their style is sometimes sporty or casual but always classical, timeless and authentic. But with that said, according to research we conducted three years ago, this does differ slightly in different markets. For example, in Australia some TITANflex models are well suited to tradesmen, miners etc because of the material strength, as well as the professional market because of the excellent finish on the higher end models.
Q: Where do you seek your design inspiration?
Anywhere, anytime and quite often I find inspirations in fields where I didn’t expect to find anything. I look at the details in art, fashion and architecture, in movies, blogs – all kinds of media – and sometimes in the technical field, in watches, textiles and jewellery…
I find it’s possible to merge these isolated puzzle parts with my ideas of what people need from their eyewear, and to create new styles.
Q: How do you maintain the iconic ‘Eschenbach’ style?
It sounds simple – but it’s not easy at all. We have a well-developed philosophy for the Eschenbach brand and we combine this with a strong mental picture of all the facets that represent our target group – of course this has to be steadily updated.
Q: How are Eschenbach frames made?
It’s a combination of the most modern machines together with the skills of highly experienced and well trained people in several European and international factories. Each location specialises in it’s own unique field in terms of the materials used or the production processes employed.
Q: What makes Eschenbach unique?
The use of TITANflex – which we’ve worked with for almost 25 years – we’ve owned the patent for 20 years. So today we remain the experts in working with this high potential material and we are continuously working to push its boundaries further – in terms of new technical and design features. For example, we recently developed new sheet metal bridges. These allow virtually any design to be made from TITANflex, whereas previously, we were restricted to using only a round wire flexible bridge. This innovation will result in a greater fashion orientation, which will broaden our market. We won a Red Dot Design award for our sheet metal bridges in 2012.
On another note, we recently introduced a new bio-based plastic material for children’s frames, made from renewable resources.
Q: Do you make a sunglass range?
Our sun brands are TITANflex, Oceanblue, OIO and Crush. They are by nature more fashionable – or more sporty – more accented than the optical frames. Our optical frames are designed purely for daily use, so they are functional with technical features. When it comes to designing sunglasses, we’re designing for people who want to express themselves, and have fun.
Q: What’s the next big trend in eyewear?
The next big thing will be the ‘preppy look’ – more sophisticated frames produced in acetate and metal. At Eschenbach we continue to evolve the potential of TITANflex, to extract all possibilities, create new proportions and new technical structures. We’re also exploring possibilities to combine this material with other innovative materials that will create new looks.
Our aim is to evolve the Eschenbach collection from more technically oriented design, as it has been known, into a visionary, emotional and fashionable collection.
We’re conducting new market research for TITANflex, because we plan to re-launch the brand in 2013. This is, in part, due to our ability to design new sheet metal bridges, which will enable us to add more fashion orientated models to the collection, and in doing so, broaden our target customer group.
Red Dot for Design |
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In 2012, TITANflex model 820605 was awarded the Red Dot Award for design. The award recognised the innovative use of memory metal plates, used in place of memory metal wires, for the bridges of TITANflex glasses. This unique feature allows unlimited freedom in the design of the fronts. Instead of being restricted to thin, round bridges, it is now possible to achieve striking, wide fronts – or, the company says, any design trend for that matter. Eschenbach says the highest degree of safety, lightness and flexibility is also guaranteed in the new design range. |
Eschenbach is distributed in Australia by European Eyewear (AUS) 03 8805 1555.
