ABOUT
THE EYEWEAR CONCEPT
BACK
to
THE CORE
Unfamiliar with the standards of the eyewear industry Piet Hein Eek redefined the concept of an eyewear frame and brought it back into 3 original lines: one solid line for the top front, one for the lower front and one for the temple.
The biggest challenge for this concept was to find a production partner. After 2 years of consultation, a small Japanese family business accepted this challange and made this titanium collection.
The concept is recognisable by it’s elegant shapes and extraordinary robust elements. The front view is of the frame is thin, but from the top view and the side view the thickness
of the titanium shows. The eyes are always visible from the side because of the iconic twist in the temple. The inclination angle is adjustable because of this twist.
ABOUT
THE DESIGNER
Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek started his carreer with iconic scrapwood furniture. In a time of extravagance he started recycling materials from old buildings. By making this well known furniture series he had grown an international reputation. His work is sold and displayed in world leading museums like the MoMa in New York.
His work is not limited to (recycled) wood, but he works in a wide range of materials like steel, titanium and ceramics. Iconic in his work is that the characteristics of the original material remains visible. Piet Hein Eek: “Instead of purely working as a designer, my partner Nob Ruijgrok and I began producing, distributing and selling our own products. Crucial for this decision was that we actually both enjoy these different activities and learning to master them all. Designing alone has never been a dream. So instead of specializing and bringing in or buying all kinds of different competencies, we have opted to do everything ourselves.” From this work setting the company and the possibilities have continued to grow through the years.
The collection of Piet Hein Eek is nowadays developed in his 10.000 square metres building, where he is surrounded by his own office, workshop, showroom and restaurant. Besides the collection he also works on commission for clients amongst others Ruinart champagne, Rabobank, Adidas, Fair Trade and Schiphol. He also designs complete interiors and limited work.
Piet Hein Eek: “To understand what it is exactly that we are doing, it is perhaps best to take a look back in time. The intuitive decisions we made in the past turned out to be crucial for the development of the company and for me personally as a designer. In my exam I wrote that, if you want to function successfully and design beautiful objects, you need to make sure that your environment is stimulating and you feel at ease. So creating this type of environment, your daily reality, is much more important than setting all kinds of goals for the future.”