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The Toronto Star, Canada
December 29, 2011 Thursday
The creative renaissance of Alain Mikli
Eyeglasses guru launches a new collaboration with friend Jean Paul Gaultier
Although Alain Mikli has been called a guru and hailed as the
godfather of modern eyewear, he'd happily settle for being known
simply as "artisan." He has no use for weighty descriptors. He
unburdened himself of the title "boss" in 2009 when he completed a
deal with an investment fund for a 47-per-cent stake in his business.
Today he is content to concentrate on life and doing what he does well
- which is designing some of the world's most distinctive optical
frames and sunglasses.
"I wanted to have my freedom again, not to worry anymore about the
management and the life of the company," said Mikli, in Toronto last
week for the launch of his latest collection, crafted in collaboration
with his old friend Jean Paul Gaultier and available in Canada
exclusively at Karir.
While the Mikli company continues an aggressive expansion that saw the
recent opening of stores in Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, San Francisco
and Los Angeles (and plans for three new shops a year for the next
five years), Mikli, who lives in Paris, is sticking to a more personal
expansionist agenda.
In North America for a four-city tour (including a party in New York
to mark the 20th anniversary of his first retail outlet in that city),
Mikli, 56, is accompanied by Florence, with whom he is starting a new
family, their first child due in April.
He already has two sons, one of whom, Jérémy Tarian, has already
impressed his father and the rest of the optical world as a promising
talent. But Mikli says he is leaving Tarian "to grow by himself, and
to make his own mistakes," while Pop applies himself with renewed
vigour to the sort of creativity that he became famous for in the
1980s.
Back then, Mikli designed eyeglasses for a runway show by the hottest
names in French fashion - Claude Montana and Gaultier. In fact, he had
a licensing arrangement with Montana, and Gaultier wanted one, too.
But, says Mikli, "I didn't want too many. Licensing is not really my
thing."
Instead, Gaultier went into production with MURAI, a Japanese company,
and enjoyed huge success with industrial-style metal frames
identifiable by their screws and coils. After Murai went out of
business, Gaultier found other partners; he also found out licensing
deals don't always let a designer be identifiable.
"So he called me," says Mikli. "It was the same people, same attitude,
same dress code, same way to talk. And I say, 'My God, what am I doing
here!'"
Mikli is as impatient with the pretense of fashion as he is with the
bullroar of show business, which he got a taste of a few years back
when he supplied the shutter shades that became a signature of Kanye
West.
"He's a nice guy when he's alone," Mikli says of the musician. "As
soon as there are two or three of his people around him, he becomes a
star."
Whatever misgivings Mikli had about the world of fashion, he finds
Gaultier "very easy to work with, because he has so many ideas." They
were able to come up with a collection that met their standards.
The distinguishing feature of the frames in the Jean Paul Gaultier by
Mikli collection (which cost from $325 to $460) are the temples, which
have multiple ribs, reminiscent of the corset, a Gaultier icon. The
sides of some frames have two prongs that act as a comb, turning
eyeglasses into hair bands. Others are like three temples in one,
spread in a fan formation and seemingly less practical and more like
an amusing exercise in Dadaist absurdity.
Still, Mikli has imagination left over for other endeavours. Working
with LG, the Korean electronics giant, he has developed 3-D glasses to
go with 3-D televisions. Also, he's busy deciding what to do with
Vuarnet, a French eyewear brand that the Mikli company acquired a
couple of years ago. He continues to design a Starck collection in
collaboration with industrial designer Philippe Starck, another
friend.
And, of course, there is his own signature collection, the latest of
which is called Prince of Sassoun. Of Armenian origin, Mikli was
inspired by a hero from Armenian folklore, reimagined by illustrator
Alban Guillemois. Fanciful and rich in detail, the collection mixes
layers and colours that owe much to the legend of Alain Mikli.
December 29, 2011 Thursday
The creative renaissance of Alain Mikli
Eyeglasses guru launches a new collaboration with friend Jean Paul Gaultier
Although Alain Mikli has been called a guru and hailed as the
godfather of modern eyewear, he'd happily settle for being known
simply as "artisan." He has no use for weighty descriptors. He
unburdened himself of the title "boss" in 2009 when he completed a
deal with an investment fund for a 47-per-cent stake in his business.
Today he is content to concentrate on life and doing what he does well
- which is designing some of the world's most distinctive optical
frames and sunglasses.
"I wanted to have my freedom again, not to worry anymore about the
management and the life of the company," said Mikli, in Toronto last
week for the launch of his latest collection, crafted in collaboration
with his old friend Jean Paul Gaultier and available in Canada
exclusively at Karir.
While the Mikli company continues an aggressive expansion that saw the
recent opening of stores in Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, San Francisco
and Los Angeles (and plans for three new shops a year for the next
five years), Mikli, who lives in Paris, is sticking to a more personal
expansionist agenda.
In North America for a four-city tour (including a party in New York
to mark the 20th anniversary of his first retail outlet in that city),
Mikli, 56, is accompanied by Florence, with whom he is starting a new
family, their first child due in April.
He already has two sons, one of whom, Jérémy Tarian, has already
impressed his father and the rest of the optical world as a promising
talent. But Mikli says he is leaving Tarian "to grow by himself, and
to make his own mistakes," while Pop applies himself with renewed
vigour to the sort of creativity that he became famous for in the
1980s.
Back then, Mikli designed eyeglasses for a runway show by the hottest
names in French fashion - Claude Montana and Gaultier. In fact, he had
a licensing arrangement with Montana, and Gaultier wanted one, too.
But, says Mikli, "I didn't want too many. Licensing is not really my
thing."
Instead, Gaultier went into production with MURAI, a Japanese company,
and enjoyed huge success with industrial-style metal frames
identifiable by their screws and coils. After Murai went out of
business, Gaultier found other partners; he also found out licensing
deals don't always let a designer be identifiable.
"So he called me," says Mikli. "It was the same people, same attitude,
same dress code, same way to talk. And I say, 'My God, what am I doing
here!'"
Mikli is as impatient with the pretense of fashion as he is with the
bullroar of show business, which he got a taste of a few years back
when he supplied the shutter shades that became a signature of Kanye
West.
"He's a nice guy when he's alone," Mikli says of the musician. "As
soon as there are two or three of his people around him, he becomes a
star."
Whatever misgivings Mikli had about the world of fashion, he finds
Gaultier "very easy to work with, because he has so many ideas." They
were able to come up with a collection that met their standards.
The distinguishing feature of the frames in the Jean Paul Gaultier by
Mikli collection (which cost from $325 to $460) are the temples, which
have multiple ribs, reminiscent of the corset, a Gaultier icon. The
sides of some frames have two prongs that act as a comb, turning
eyeglasses into hair bands. Others are like three temples in one,
spread in a fan formation and seemingly less practical and more like
an amusing exercise in Dadaist absurdity.
Still, Mikli has imagination left over for other endeavours. Working
with LG, the Korean electronics giant, he has developed 3-D glasses to
go with 3-D televisions. Also, he's busy deciding what to do with
Vuarnet, a French eyewear brand that the Mikli company acquired a
couple of years ago. He continues to design a Starck collection in
collaboration with industrial designer Philippe Starck, another
friend.
And, of course, there is his own signature collection, the latest of
which is called Prince of Sassoun. Of Armenian origin, Mikli was
inspired by a hero from Armenian folklore, reimagined by illustrator
Alban Guillemois. Fanciful and rich in detail, the collection mixes
layers and colours that owe much to the legend of Alain Mikli.