With over 100 design awards to its name, family-owned eyewear brand LINDBERG is more than a fashion favorite. The Danish aesthetic values technical innovation and minimalism over ornamentation – so much so that you won't find a screw or a rivet in sight. We got to speak with the team to learn more about the company's history and dedication to meticulous craftsmanship and high-quality materials. Read on to learn how the LINDBERG designers successfully tie together form and function in the most stylish way.
How was LINDBERG founded?
It all started in the 1980s when optometrist Poul-Jørn Lindberg couldn’t find any lightweight glasses for himself that he liked. The market was saturated with bulky, thick frames that were flimsy and didn’t sit on faces properly. Because of that, his son, Henrik Lindberg, an architect, saw it was his ambition to invent the best durable eyewear to fit perfectly on any individual. So the Father and son decided to partner and started to experiment with titanium wire to hold lenses of different shapes and sizes in place. This led to the invention of LINDBERG’s first eyewear, AIR titanium, the world’s first titanium frame with a comprehensive customisation system and patented screwless hinges. A momentous moment was in 1992 when the AIR titanium was awarded the Good Design Grand Prize in Tokyo. The accolade was considered the world benchmark for exceptional industrial design. We were in direct competition with fellow design leaders including, Apple Macintosh, BMW and the Shinkansen, Japanese bullet train – so you could imagine how much of a proud achievement it was to prevail above these influential designs. Throughout the years, the brand built on 14 collections, all comprising of the original design and technical values as the very first AIR titanium glasses. Today, LINDBERG is a world-leading independent manufacturer, pioneer and front-runner within titanium eyewear and currently holds 108 international design awards to its name.
Who is the brand’s target audience?
The LINDBERG audience is someone who has style and substance. LINDBERG wearers have an appreciation for premium design, technical innovation, high-quality materials and craftsmanship. Their taste for minimalism and can acknowledge the Danish design ideals of abandoning grand ornamentation to embrace form and function, simple geometry, perfected details and high-quality natural materials for sophisticated and timeless design. LINDBERG fans can range from creative tastemakers like artists, designers, stylists, architects, interior designers to sportsmen, celebrities and royals.
What makes LINDBERG stand out in the eyewear market?
Design always comes first. LINDBERG is motivated by the modern movement of functionalism, where the purpose of the item guides us. It is an aesthetic design language with the absence of excessive ornamentation. Due to this heritage, we’re all about functionality, uncluttered minimalism and clean aesthetics. We have removed all unnecessary elements like screws, rivets and welded parts.
Our designers find great pleasure in letting the material itself do the job. Although today we work with many high-end materials like buffalo horn, fine oak, solid gold, platinum and even diamonds, titanium is still the heart of our products. The material has the advantages of being hypoallergenic, durable and lightweight. One of the most defining elements of our DNA is customisable eyewear. LINDBERG sees the need for style and comfort with a building system that allows the wearer to achieve the ultimate fit and one-of-a-kind look. This supreme building system is still not achievable in the world of mass-market. With customisation, we can tailor-make our eyewear down to the smallest detail to help the wearer choose the perfect style, size, colour and material combinations. These details are what matter to the wearer to have everyday comfort and style.
We believe that timeless design lies within craftsmanship, high-quality material, and durability. Integrating these elements requires a push for technical innovation, which pushes our designers and engineers to obsess over every design and technical detail. We’re very proud that every aspect of the LINDBERG design and manufacturing process is done in-house, as we believe premium eyewear, by definition, should always be meticulously worked on and passed through human hands and never be mass-produced.
Where can we shop LINDBERG products?
LINDBERG only distributes to the top selected optical partners situated in over 100 countries. You can find your closest authorized LINDBERG dealer at www.lindberg.com/dealers
Any upcoming launches, collections, or exciting updates to have on our radars?
LINDBERG’s constant attraction to technical innovation has resulted in leading-edge development with titanium. LINDBERG thintanium is a brand-new and patent-pending eyewear collection by LINDBERG. The designers and engineers of LINDBERG have pushed the possibilities of titanium to new levels by creating most likely the thinnest full-plate titanium eyewear collection in the world. thintanium is both cutting-edge and minimalistic - setting the tone for the future of eyewear fashion. An engineering milestone - thintanium is named after the revolutionary thin titanium strips developed by LINDBERG. The eyewear looks essentially rimless in appearance, while still maintaining the stability of a full titanium front – a truly remarkable feat. Using the hypoallergenic material in such a minimalistic way makes the designs weigh as little as 3.0 grams, so you might even forget you’re wearing them. Until now, the technique has never been possible in the history of eyewear design.
The LINDBERG thintanium collection has already achieved recognition and so far within the eyewear industry and creative community, having gained two of the most sought-after design awards: “The Red Dot: Best of the Best” – the highest award in the competition, reserved for the very best products, and the iF Gold Award – the best award by iF design where LINDBERG was within the 75 of 10,000 applicants who received the honor.
