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BERLIN - In the world of European high-end eyewear, there is giant EssilorLuxottica, smaller players such as Italy’s Marcolin and luxury groups LVMH and Kering that started investing in the sector a few years ago. And then there’s Germany’s Mykita – the last independent fully integrated spectacle manufacturer after Kering acquired Denmark’s Lindberg last year.

From the nose bridge to Mykita’s trademark spiral hinge that connects the temple to the frame without screws, every production step is handled by a human being - a luxury in our machine-dominated 21st century. And it takes place in Kreuzberg, the bohemian heart of the German capital, known for its art galleries and trendy restaurants.

But what could be the bigger game plan of Mykita at a time when haute eyewear is becoming one of the fastest growing segments of European luxury? Arguably, it shares the same artisanal spirit as Hermes. Both seek to stand out from the crowd with their handmade products, and the creative freedom given to their designers. Hermes is the last major luxury brand that does not have an eyewear line and keeps mum as to when it will launch one. It’s tempting to consider: could Mykita be a good fit? Or could the German brand replicate the success of Hermes as independent in the emerging eyewear industry?

Hermès, which is several hundred times bigger than Mykita and some 166 years older, could also just get some ideas from Mykita. The German company is into craftsmanship, technological innovation and is a pioneer in developing sustainable materials and building a circular economy around its eyewear.

Mykita’s factory downtown Berlin bears comparison to Hermès 40 years ago when production and many other activities took place on the top floors of the French luxury brand’s flagship rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris. The atmosphere was that of a giant beehive.

If Mykita is to make the step change to become a leading haute spectacle maker in the evolving fashion eyewear industry, there are obstacles, as well as opportunities. For one, it’s competing with a rush among luxury brands to claim this coveted position in a global market estimated to be worth more than $20 billion in 2022.

LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, is aggressively chasing that title with its Thelios eyewear manufacturing hub in Italy’s Dolomites mountains, where it makes eyewear for many of its brands including Celine and Dior. Kering too has its own factory in northern Italy, near Padua. Meanwhile, the world’s eyewear leader, EssilorLuxottica, boasts Oliver Peoples, its high-end Los Angeles-founded brand manufactured in Italy and Japan.

Challenging the luxury market for eyewear, there’s also the disruptive desire for greater price transparency among consumers about eyewear costing $1,000 or more, driven by Internet juggernaut Amazon.com, innovators such as Warby Parker, and Gen Z consumers demanding greater supply chain transparency.

Still, rich pickings are on offer for the winners. Luxury eyewear, together with jewelry has been the fastest-growing segments of the luxury goods industry in recent years, or more than 10 percent annually, analysts say. The beauty with eyewear is that you do not have several sizes, which reduces the risk to build up excess stock.

Meanwhile, the twin drivers of inflation and energy crisis putting a squeeze on disposable incomes may also provide a boost to the luxury eyewear market as buying a pair of pricey sunglasses or spectacles becomes more accessible. A pair of designer spectacles is also more visible than a pair of expensive shoes on work calls over Zoom.

Hence that segment is likely to represent an increasingly bigger slice of total luxury market estimated to be worth as much as 380 billion euros by 2025, according to consultancy Bain & co.

Mykita is well placed to take advantage of these trends. For one, it’s got a striking birth story to tell, a key pull in the age of brand authenticity.

Its name is derived from its founding office located in a children’s daycare, known as a kita in German. The brand started in 2003, founded by a group of young entrepreneurs who included Moritz Krueger, then 24 years old. Krueger has been overseeing the brand’s designs ever since. In 2013, Bernd Beetz, former CEO of Coty and Christian Dior Parfums, invested in the company and bought a controlling stake. In recent years, Beetz has hired managers with experience managing fashion and luxury brands to help him grow the business.

Mykita is not for sale, according to Krueger and Beetz. Their ambition is to double turnover, which is now around €40 million, and catch up with Lindberg in terms of size. Last year, Lindberg, a Danish brand which specializes in titanium frames, is estimated to have made sales of around €80 million. In its near 20-year history, Mykita made losses only three years, in 2017 and then in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, Krueger said. This year, he says it is on track to break even.

“Mykita is about craftsmanship,” says Beetz. “We want to grow it but keep the company artisanal.” Hermès has been dealing with the same challenge in the past 20 years: expanding production while keeping quality and creativity high. Mykita works with a large number of specialist opticians and runs 16 directly operated stores in North America and Europe, in cities such as New York and Barcelona. It plans to double that number in the next five years. It is also working on a new retail concept to modernize its image and move on from its trademark “Mykita Wall”, a white metallic display wall lined with its spectacles that’s been part of its store brand image for many years.

Like at Hermès’ Pantin workshop north of Paris, Mykita’s workers form a group of colorful characters. They ooze that cool artsy vibe for which Berlin is known. Artisans, many boasting tattoos and piercings, AirPods in their ears, execute stage by stage many of the different steps involved in making a pair of spectacles. At Mykita, a worker accomplishes several steps and moves around different posts. That is different from Hermès, where usually artisans make their own bag or accessory from beginning to end.

For Mykita’s stainless-steel spectacles, the starting point is a flat metal sheet that comes from Sweden. The frames etched into it are detached one by one. Afterwards, each part, from the temple to the nose section, is bent, twisted, turned and thumped to form a pair of spectacles. These stainless-steel spectacles require more than 80 steps equal to several days of work.

Most of the raw material Mykita uses comes from recycled sources, whether it is stainless steel or acetate. Some 99 percent of the production’s scrap, prototypes and other metals are recycled. Germany takes very seriously the preservation of the environment and fight against climate change. It has been at the forefront of global efforts to find solutions and take action. Earlier this year, it said it aimed to fulfill all its electricity needs with supplies from renewable sources by 2035.

At a time when many luxury brands are being accused of greenwashing, Mykita’s small scale, and artisanal focus lends itself to today’s luxury goods quest for sustainability and production in balance with the environment - qualities increasingly sought after by young consumers. It also helps that it is in line with its quintessential German identity and outspoken commitment to protect nature.

One of the many strengths of Mykita – like that of Hermès – is that it fully controls the production and creative process. It is constantly working on testing and trialling new ideas. The advantage of having production, design, research and development under one roof is that “it creates bridges between every department,” and “it makes the whole process much more fluid and saves you a lot of time,” explains Luis Dourado, design studio assistant. “You can go down a few floors to try something out, you don’t need to wait for days or weeks for somebody else to do something for you.”

The company has developed a new material called Mylon for which it owns the patents and won prizes. It is made with polyamide power and produced in-house using 3D printing. The technology behind it comes from the car industry and was adapted by the company’s engineers. Mykita, however, does not produce lenses. It relies on high-end supplier Zeiss, Germany’s leading manufacturer, and Japan’s Tajima, specialized in polarized lenses.

Today, Mykita’s workforce is 350 people strong worldwide, and some 270 work at the Berlin manufacture. Lindberg by comparison has around twice that number of employees. The Mykita Haus is airy and bright with long rows of large windows. It is a modern-style turn-of-the 20th century-building which was once a manufacturer of metallic products, a tapestry plant and a cigarette factory. In the 1930s, it was where Pelikan pens and ink were made. Mykita moved into the premises in 2014 and now occupies the whole building. Internet fashion retailer and media company Highsnobiety used to rent a floor there but left a few years ago.

To increase output, Mykita will have to invest in new premises. “Our biggest problem is production bottlenecks,” says Beetz. “We are currently working on how to increase production.” Mykita will have to sort this out quickly if it wants to meet its target of doubling sales and doing collaborations with other brands. In the past, the German eyewear manufacturer has collaborated with fashion house Maison Margiela and camera maker Leica among others. The brand is in talks to agree on a new collaboration but it needs to sort out its production capacity issues first before it can go ahead and sign.

Mykita’s design team meet several times a week to discuss new shapes, materials and colors. The company produces 800 prototypes a year and puts into production only 60 of them. Thanks to this creative process, collections are constantly renewed – inciting customers to visit its shops and website to check out what’s new. Demand is tested for each pair before producing large quantities. If a model is popular, there can be waiting lists. It recently happened with the Just Lite collection of vintage-style navigator and aviator shapes in gold metallic tones that featured in the TV series “And just like that” - a revival of the popular “Sex and the City.”

The pandemic together with a painful switch to SAP, a computer-based enterprise planning system, has held back Mykita’s growth. But the future is looking good. “We have plans to communicate more and talk about what we do and what makes us so unique,” Christina Ahlers, the company’s COO told Miss Tweed. Before joining Mykita, Ahlers used to run Courrèges, a French fashion brand which belongs to Artemis, the investment company held by the Pinault family that controls Gucci owner Kering. Before that Ahlers worked for Swedish brand Acne Studios and Maison Margiela.

In the courtyard of the Mykita manufacturing headquarters, there are around a dozen gardening plots, a project launched in partnership witha collective called “Prinzessinnengarten” from the neighborhood.Every Mykita team grows its own tomatoes, chilis, basil, lavender, sage or other herbs which they eat at lunch or take home. “It allows people to connect,” says Julia Mehlhorn, Mykita global brand director.

Like the plants they water every day, the brand’s workers say they feel they each play an important role in the company’s growth – not everyone can say this in the ruthless and ultra-competitive jungle that is the fashion and luxury world. It’s a great selling point for consumers and luxury groups on the hunt for acquisitions.