At So Catchy! Where Fashion Begins we always have an eye on Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, as one of the most important hubs of design around the world. The classrooms of Shenkar, which we would love to visit one day, are incubators for design projects that have caught our eye time and time again.
For today’s interview we talked with Yonatan Landsberg, a recent graduate of the prestigious university, about his final collection, composed of sunglasses that take interesting and significant shapes, photographed by Michael Liani.
SO CATCHY!: You have been studying accessories at Shenkar…. How has the experience been?
YONATAN LANDSBERG: Studying in Shenkar has been a very demanding and also rewarding experience. I am 6 months graduated now and I feel those four years have given me a very sharp and distinct way of thinking and understanding of design and the world of design. It wasn’t always easy, but the difficult part, like everything in life, helped me grow and develop as a person and as a designer.
SC!: What kind of accessories do you prefer to design?
YL: I can say that I have a soft spot and a desire for eyewear, but I love designing most accessories. I really have no preference as long as I’m able to bring my own language to what I design.
SC!: Your main inspiration comes from…
YL: I have been designing a lot of wedding rings lately, most of the custom made, so I can safely say the main inspiration for my designs are the people I design for.
SC!: What eyewear or accessories brands do you really like?
YL: I love MYKITA eyewear, if not only for their innovative hinge. I love LINBDERG eyewear, they are among the only few brands I wish I’d work for and so is “THEO” eyewear. Another brand I love is local Israeli brand called GO. The factory closed but I recently started collecting their models and they were totally ahead of their time.
SC!: Tell us about your final project… the inspiration, materials and techniques…
YL: My final project came to my king only a few months before the presentation and after long months of struggling with a different concept that was to ambitious for the time I had. I realized one day I’d love to design glasses and than just sat down and tried to see what is the possible minimum amount of material, work and manipulation for producing a pair of glasses. My inspiration was the material itself (sterling silver and brass), the bends and twists I produced inspired me to make more and more of them and discover different shapes and possibilities.
SC!: What are you going to do now?
YL: In the near future I’d like to slowly and carefully open my independent design studio. It is important for me to start small and modest and work my way up at a pace that is right for me.
SC!: Where do you see the future of eyewear? And of accessories?
YL: In my opinion, as it seems now, accessories, as they always have been are in important tool for humans to define and claim who they are. In our times, I feel this aspect is only getting stronger. What I expect and hope for in the future is for accessories, along with technological advances to improve our lives, whether it is designed hearing aids that you can feel proud to wear, or even a hybrid smart phone-necklace-ring set that does everything a smart phone does.
SC!: An accessory you cannot stop wearing….
YL: About a year before I started Shenkar, my grandpa gave me a gold ring that used to belong to his brother, it’s a simple stamp ring with his initials on it, made of old 14k yellow gold. It’s been on my finger ever since and I don’t take it off.
SC!: Instagram accounts, websites, etc., you normally follow / read.
YL: Instagram accounts I follow include: @c_l_o, @sayhito_, @watts.on @pogremuhi, @studiokyss and @sosoyukiko which isn’t a design account, but lovely to see.
Glasses and Accessory Photos courtesy of Yonatan Landsberg
Final Collection:
Photographer: Michael Liani
Styling: Roni Amiel @yours_freshly
Model: Didi Podmazo for Brick models
Translation and Layout by Michael Padilla
