Internationally known lifestyle brand BOGNER is a leading supplier of luxury sportswear and designer fashion. In our SPECTR interview, product manager Ayano Maki provides exclusive insights into how BOGNER’s brand DNA infuses current eyewear collections.
“Very minimal, but not too simple. A rather smart and characteristic style.”
Hello Ayano, you are responsible for product design at BOGNER. What makes work exciting for you?
As a person who has a passion for design, fashion and sports, working on a BOGNER collection is more than a welcome opportunity. There is a lot of possibility to unify different elements from various sources and create something new.
What kinds of elements do you unify, exactly?
Needless to say, BOGNER is well known in the luxury sports fashion industry since 1932. The brand DNA “Sport meets Fashion” has been a constant throughout the brand history and collections from the beginning until now. This is the core of brand, no matter in which product lines. BOGNER was the first brand in the industry to propose that functional sports apparel can be very fashionable. This spirit makes BOGNER very much outstanding from others, in both the high fashion and sport performance segment.
Seems like bridging the gap between these segments is easier said than done, right?
It is not easy to mix these two, completely different worlds together without losing any aspects from each side. But Bogner has been doing it successfully for 88 years. That can be done only if the brand has a strong belief in its own value and is brave enough to break through common sense by taking a risk in order to develop themselves further. Therefore, they have been called a global pioneer in the fashion and sports industry for long time.
Do these pioneering traits match your own personal identity?
I feel great sympathy and have respect for the passion and courage behind the brand and think I possess them as well. I am enthusiastic about creating something beautiful which makes daily life brighter. And it makes me happy to see and use it. To reach my set goals, I can be very brave or, if required, patient. And I am truly enjoying the design process.
Today we’re talking about current eyewear collections. To what extent does the design of glasses fit into the general brand DNA behind BOGNER?
From the first launch of our collection, our design philosophy has been aligned with the BOGNER brand identity. The fusion of sport and fashion is at the center of our design approach. Therefore, our eyewear collection offers functionality as well as luxury on many levels including materials, proportions, extra functionality, and specifically developed colors, all fused into an eyewear design.
Looking at the models, it seems that the approach to visible brand insignia is rather dialed back.
What is the main design theme of the current BOGNER eyewear collection?
Our focus for 2020 is clean and light. It is about frame shape, volume and proportion. Also about color and finishing. Very minimal, but not too simple. A rather smart and characteristic style.
Let’s take a closer look at your latest style, model »66007«. At first sight, it looks like you were inspired by ski goggles?
Actually, we started development of our sunglasses »67600«first as shield lens sunglasses. It started in one of our regular design meetings at BOGNER. I sat next to a head designer and on our coffee break, we spoke briefly about what could be cool for next season, how we can create a strong theme by looking at many old photos from the BOGNER archive.
Did you find something that caught your interest?
Indeed. We found a photo from the 1970s that we both thought was awesome, showing this elegant lady with a very sporty ski goggle. It perfectly explains how sport meets elegance. Then all we needed was four pieces of paper and two pens. And at the end of our break, we had a very rough sketch of the »67600«. This served as the starting point for our development of season AW 2020 styles, for which the »67600«became a flagship model.
So the »66007« came next?
Yes, the optical »66007« frame is thesister style of our »67600«. The optical frame maintains the outer line of the goggle on the front, but much slimmer and carved in more detail for optical usage. This is thanks to a new and modern engineered material, featured in the season’s three key colorways as well as in translucent, which made a style even lighter and delicate.
Aside from this new material, what is special about the »66007«?
The very distinctive shape features the outer silhouette of a unisex aviator style. Details include small BOGNER ‘B logos’ on the bridge area. The sporty look is absolutely trendy and fashionable style. But not difficult to wear due to the highly polished surface and subtle and transparent colorways. The material is lightweight on both front and temples. Since the »66007« is a nylor style and the color is monochromatic, the resulting look is very minimal and clean, matching our design focus for this season.
The »66007« in Iceberg is pretty (and) cool.
Find out more about the Brand Bogner here: BOGNER.
Brand Profile at Spectr.
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What was the inspiration for the three colorways, Blossom, Hazel and Iceberg?
Every season, BOGNER shares with us the new color palette of main colors used in the apparel collection. So these three new color hues feature prominently on their main garment collection line in this season as well as in the eyewear collection, in different places such as lenses, logos, temple tips and so on.
How important is this synchronization between eyewear and apparel?
Consistent and coordinated color usage creates the impression of an overall collection. It harmonizes the seasonal look to the main design theme at BOGNER.
And finally: What kind of wearer do you have in mind for these glasses?
Modern and urban, someone seeking for a perfect balance between fashion and functionality. I’m sure this style creates a positive ‘Wow’ effect.
Thanks for the interview, Ayano.