Bernhard Willhelm’s men and womenswear collections have always been characterised by what could only be described as “outrageous playfulness”, an oxymoronic definition for a designer that favours colours, chaos and dark irony.
Take Willhelm’s Autumn/Winter 2009-10 menswear collection presented at the beginning of February at the Mercedes-Benz Berlin Fashion Week: with its designs inspired by the wintry landscapes of Innsbruck at the end of the 70s, Willhelm presented a mix of retro skiwear and modern and bold graphics through an ironic installation.
Colours exploded also in the designer’s womenswear collection for the next season, a sort of antidote to the bleak financial crisis with its long check patchwork dresses featuring colourful inserts and coffee bag prints; brightly coloured ropes holding skirts; knitwear with holes and hanging threads; short capes worn with long gowns; multi-coloured georgette dresses and bright yellow frocks with political slogans urging “Oil Now”.
But colours and fun weren’t the only things the two collections had in common: during the catwalk shows, Willhelm’s male and female models wore sunglasses by Berlin-based eyewear company Mykita.
Founded in 2003 by Moritz Krueger, Harald Gottschling and Daniel and Philipp Haffmans - the managerial core behind the successful ic! berlin - the brand that takes its name from the company’s first premises, a former day-care centre for children, has become in the last few years synonymous with light frames and classically elegant and avant-garde designs.
“It was Bernhard Wilhelm’s present collection that sparked our collaboration,” Moritz Krueger recounts about this special project. “When he gave us the first briefing about what he was going to present for the next season’s menswear collection – the 1976 Winter Olympics, a theme that leaves space for plenty of ideas – we knew what to do straightaway.”
Usually when fashion brands decide to release eyewear products, they license their names to a specialised company that suggests which may be the best options in this field. But in Mykita’s case things worked in a very different way.
“We are an independent brand with an in-house production, so our communication times are brief and ideas flow easily,” Krueger explains. “We debate daily about styles, shapes and silhouettes as we consider ourselves as ‘face couturiers’ who work in the same field of a fashion designer, but with one difference: a fashion designer dresses the body, we ‘dress’ the face. 
Our ethos allows us to perfectly interpret and therefore produce the ideal eyewear for a particular designer. In Bernhard’s case he gave us two guidelines, three basic colours - blue, white and red - and the use of mirrored lenses. What we did was trying to emphasise the designer’s ideas in the final collection.”
For what regards the men’s looks Mykita came up with three aviator styles: the “Franz” model, inspired by legendary downhill champion Franz Klammer; the drop-shaped “Sepp” model, named after an abbreviation of the Bavarian name Josef, characterised by a bulkier and more masculine style, and the sophisticated “Luke” model that reminds of the elegant atmosphere of Cortina, the ski and sport resort in the Dolomites, in the 70s. 
“The mirrored lenses traditionally used by high-mountain climbers such as bearded icon Reinhold Messner were combined with a vintage macho style and the final results perfectly matched Willhelm’s designs and inspirations,” Krueger says. “For the men’s styles we chose three aviator styles and evoked the 70s by opting for silhouettes that reminded of the rudimentary industrial frame-punching techniques and the inadequacies of past manufacturing methods.”
Women can instead choose between the “Janis” and “Uschi” styles: the former has a round and oversized shape inspired by singer and songwriter Janis Joplin, while the latter features a square frame. Both the models are available in three versions, gold with brown gradient lenses, gold with gold-mirrored lenses and silver with grey gradient lenses.
The Mykita team hopes there will still be time in Willhelm’s busy schedule for further projects in the future.
“If Bernhard is in the mood and comes up with some exciting ideas that we can happily play with, why not?” concludes Krueger.
In the meantime this summer rather than “looking at life through rose-tinted glasses” fashionistas will be “looking at life through mirrored lenses” thanks to Mykita and Willhelm’s eyewear.
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