There is one inquiry that stumps Mykita founder Moritz Krueger: What’s your favorite style in the new collection?

“This question...hallelujah,” Krueger says. “When we are handing over our designs to production, we give a name to every frame. For us, it’s a huge kindergarten in a way. You have to love them all.”

It’s a fitting comparison as Mykita, founded in Berlin in 2003, got its start in a space that was formerly a children’s day care, or “kita” in German.

Here, Krueger dishes on everything from Mykita’s new two-floor Manhattan location—one of 15 global stores and with an Rx lab visible from the sales floor—to the brand’s vision for the future.

EB: How is the new NYC location different from the former SoHo space?

MORITZ KRUEGER: You can really see our opticians working on the glasses and making the holistic product. It marks, for us, a next level for retail. We wanted to have more space for intimacy between the optician and the customers—there are different areas where they can sit down and have a conversation on the product, the lens, and the medical surface.

EB: How does Mykita differentiate itself in a crowded eyewear market?

MK: Our access point was more from an industrial design perspective. We did not really have any experience in eyewear or eyewear manufacturing. We were focusing on materials and construction and then most of our ingredients—or technologies and surfaces—came from different industries. This interdisciplinary approach toward design led us to our own aesthetic.

EB: What new collections are you focusing on?

MK: Our collections cater to a broad demographic—from our children’s collection to selling to my grandfather. Our latest innovation is a concept called Lessrim, which is a new Mykita interpretation of a rimless aesthetic. Through technology advancement, we’ve been able to create a product that is our most lightweight concept to date—eyewear design with a pure and sleek look that is super comfortable.

EB: How does Mykita work to help the eyecare professional?

MK: Every pair of our glasses has been designed with ultimate comfort, light weight, and adjustability in mind—so the optician is really able to offer the best possible product. We also provide them with everything they need from physical point-of-sale materials to digital support. The future is that, with a multichannel approach, you’re activating end-customer leads from a digital channel but then converting and directing them to a brick-and-mortar environment. In a disruptive eyewear business, I think we will see dramatic changes within the next three to five years.

That said, that’s not only a survival strategy, that’s the future strategy—to focus on and strengthen the bond between strong brands and amazing opticians.

—KERRI ANN RAIMO WITH ERINN MORGAN