Designer Files: Stefan Flatscher

by Louis J L Fullagar In the first of our series of "1 on 1" interviews with independent eyewear designers we speak with Stefan Flatscher, chef/designer of Freudenhaus, who is not only a friend and one time boss but a passionate, clever and witty eyewear personality. He was born in Salzburg, Austria (not Australia - singing little boys not kangaroos) and grew up surrounded by mountains and fresh air in the little town of Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria. Although a very beautiful place, at some point he found himself bored and at a young age decided to move, first to Wiesbaden near Frankfurt for a couple of years and then to Munich, a place he describes as the capital of his little world. After 25 years in Munich he now lives in the Palm Beach area of Florida with his beautiful wife, Katherine and their lovely daughter, Grace.How did you become involved in this industry?Stefan: I didn't know what to do with myself after school. I was wearing glasses, didn't really want to join the army which was mandatory at that time...in Germany you learnt an occupation by doing an apprenticeship for 3 years and by doing so you could put off the joining the army until later....and hope for some change. So I became an optician but really I wanted to become an architect and instead of studying architecture I got stuck in the optical industry which I really became fond of....Why and when did you begin to design eyewear?Stefan: Right from the very start of being an optician, I had these visions....one of them was Freudenhaus as a new store concept and I made a plan which was scarily close to the actual store 6 years later. The same thing with the glasses... at a very early stage I had this idea of what I would like or need to change and so I thought why not just do it?..... and that was the start of the Freudenhaus collection with 4 models, which we launched at Optika in Cologne in 1992 just a half year after opening our first store.What were your early influences?Stefan: The influence for me even having the idea of designing my own line was Alain Mikli but the look of the frames was more inspired by old frames from the 30's. I also worked as a distributor for an American company who also made frames inspired by that period and I wanted to use the vintage details but bring in new shapes.Where do you draw inspiration from now?Stefan: I am firsty influenced by the "zeitgeist". I think it is is just out there in the universe..... and then by everything else... I remember driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and thought "what a nice bridge"... next thing the design for a 3 piece frame came to me. Another time I was looking at the clouds and had an idea for a frame....I started to worry when that happened.....What is your favorite pair of glasses not designed by you?Stefan: The old Porsche Design sunglasses 5623. It has a new number now but I had the frame when I was 15 or so and it was so cool. I had all this different colored lenses. It wasn't until I was an optician and we had to put optical lenses into it that I realized I did not love the frame so much anymore....it was just too much work. Anyway, it is a super balanced , oversize aviator and the technical aspect that you could change the lenses yourself was a pretty cool option back then.What is happening with your brand this year?Stefan: A lot! We started our new advertising campaign "Luder & Luden" last year. Instead of models we used clients from our stores in Munich. This year we shot the campaign with our "dealers" - the opticians who are usually on the other side of the glasses and it was a big success. We created a very unique look with the photography which helps the brand recognition. Roman Kuhn, the photographer, did an amazing job!On the frame side, we are super excited that we found some colors which are so Freudenhaus yet still colorful which gives the collection a very new look but keeps the wearability.... it's still about design.... not about being bizarre!From the store side we are excited because we just got the keys for our new baby in Munich. Last year we had to close one of our stores ( the iconic white cube in Schwabing) because they tore the house down....but now only 25 meters away ( that's 75 feet) we found a new location.... it's awesome and double the size!What is it about being an independent that makes it worth the hard work?Stefan: After all...I just love my work and I have a personal idea of how people should look in glasses. It is not so much about the frames.... it is about the people who are wearing them. I am an industrial designer and optician - not an artist. The use of art is its beauty and what it tells you...... my glasses are useful! They make you look great and a great look gives you confidence. Confidence makes you successful.... so I believe giving people a better life makes the hard work totally worth it...Thanks for your time mate...Stefan: You're always welcome!www.freudenhaus.com