Brand Feature: Veronika Wildgruber
Dr Sam Schneider • Apr 24, 2020
Veronika Wildgruber.
Every so often, there is a pair of glasses unique enough to stop us in our tracks. This is what happened when we saw the model “James” by Veronika Wildgruber and that feeling flourished as we viewed the whole collection.
By whom you say? While she may not be a household name, Veronika Wildgruber has a pretty unique resume which includes a collaboration with luxury brand Hermes designing silk patterns for ties and shoes. Born in Germany, she studied product design in Italy and started getting noticed for her one of a kind concepts like a wooden chair meant to look like a cushioned seat (see photo below) and a hanging wardrobe system that won an International Forum Design award.
Outside the box mindset.
Now that we know a bit about Veronika Wildgruber and her outside the box mindset, let’s talk about her glasses! She made a splash in the optical world in 2010 when she unveiled four handmade frames in Paris at Silmo, the world’s biggest optical fair, which subsequently won the Silmo d’Or Special Jury Prize (equivalent to winning Rookie of the Year). Utilizing her design background, she continued making glasses which are known to create intervening spaces by crossing lines, and evoke depth by varying thickness throughout the frame. Very cool. In 2017, she one-upped herself and went on to win the Silmo d’Or for Best Designed Sunglasses in 2017.
As we browsed through the collection at a viewing in Paris, we couldn’t stop trying the glasses on because they truly were something different. In person, the glasses looked and felt even better. They were bold, brave and in a category of their own. The added tactility confirmed the quality of the craftsmanship and we were in love. That love deepened when we became aware of their transparent manufacturing process: each frame is handmade entirely in Italy and comes with a manufacturing card detailing the origins and places of production of each component of the frame. In other words, traceable from start to finish. We loved this ideology and felt that it solidified our intentions to have her frames on our shelves.
Monocle Optometry is proud to be one of the only Australian stockists to showcase Veronika Wildgruber! In fact, we love them so much that both Carla and Claudy proudly wear them!
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Goodbye 2020! Wow, year one done! It's been a heck of a ride, but truthfully, it actually came and went pretty quickly! Everything we had aspired to create finally came to fruition on February 29, 2020 when we first opened our door to the public. All of the planning, designing, researching and anticipation came to a hush as that door swung open to give Monocle its first breath of fresh air. We didn't know who was going to step foot in our practice, but that's half the fun! From that day, we saw new faces as well as familiar ones, and we are beyond thankful for everyone that has graced Monocle with their presence. However, one month later came Covid-19, and with heavy hearts we were forced to close that very same door which we had worked so hard to open.