Mykita’s forward thinking

Moritz Krueger, CEO, Creative Director, and one of the founders of the renowned, pioneering brand of Germany, talks to WMIDO about the path taken by his company since 2003.Your company was founded in 2003: could you tell us about the main steps taken by your company during its early years?Mykita was founded in Berlin. Our first premises were a former children’s day care, called Kita in German, which inspired the name Mykita. We discovered that we had a clear aesthetic vision, as well as a willingness to do things ourselves.A creative company in Berlin in the early 2000s required a different mindset than it would have if it were in London, Paris, or New York – it made us self-sufficient. With no one to manufacture our original designs the way we imagined it, we took the decision to set up in-house production.Developing our own tools and processes has since become a principle of how we operate. We made our debut in Tokyo, closely followed by Paris in 2004. The first Mykita collection only consisted of thirty super light stainless-steel glasses, but the innovative product design and minimal branding resonated with the international audience. Back in Berlin, we quickly had to step up production in order to supply an unexpected number of orders.How is your company internationally organized?Today our company employs around 450 people worldwide. As well as the headquarters in Berlin, we own two subsidiaries: Mykita North America in New York, and Mykita Apac in Hong Kong. Our global distribution strategy is a mix of direct export and partner companies worldwide.Along with our 14 shops in cities across the globe, including Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Tokyo, our frames are available at selected opticians and fashion stores in over 80 countries.You often organize collaborations with other designers: why did you decide to do this, and what is your latest one?The main reason behind each of our collaborations is to create a new product. It’s also an opportunity for us to expose ourselves to a strong, creative, outside point of view. This influences our design process and invigorates our company as a whole. Through a collaboration we develop a product that would otherwise never come into existence, and that’s exactly what is so exciting about it.Ultimately, each collaboration is really about the product. An indication of the strength of our collaborations is that most of them last for many years, such as those with Damir Doma, Bernhard Willhelm, and Maison Margiela. Our most recent collaboration projects include eyewear designs with designer Tim Coppens, as well as the Tokyobased label Ambush, and the record label Perlon from Berlin.You started in the eyewear field as an “avantgarde” designer: what is the future of eyewear?The future is now! We have never limited ourselves to the traditional confines of the eyewear industry, but always look to incorporate new technologies from other fields into our system where it makes sense. Interdisciplinary partnerships are vital to the way we operate and are key to our success.We are always pushing the boundaries of our materials and constructions. Our design process is the direct result of a constant pursuit of technical advancement.