Philippe Vergez
Continually reinventing himself, Philippe Vergez is a relentless perfectionist and world-class designer with a new(ish) brand— Philippe V —that truly reflects his values.
Swords connote power and competition, athleticism and precision. Philippe Vergez fashioned his first sword out of wood at age four, and those themes have stayed a vital part of his psychologicalmake up ever since. Vergez grew up in a creative family in south-west France. A solitary boy, he loved the worlds of fantasy and magic, animals, the ocean and making things.
As it turned out, he also had a gift for mathematics. “I was good at it and got a university degree but I didn’t have a passion for it,” he says. His passions at that time were surfing and travel, so he made his first surfboard, travelled the world and later got a job as a sales administrator for Quiksilver in Biarritz. Within three years he was a sales director, but the job wasn’t using his full potential.
The eyewear industry came calling in 1988, when Vergez started working for Oakley’s marketing department for Europe. That’s when he met Greg Arnette and the two went on to set-up the iconic brand Arnette. While gaining experience in branding and marketing for several leading companies, Vergez took a stealth approach to learning the intricacies of frame design. “I am very curious and good with my hands so I started drawing concepts and making prototypes. Luxottica was the first to bring a couple of my creations to life.”
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Leonardo Del Vecchio, founder and chairman of Luxottica Group, made a big impression on Vergez. “I was in his office one day and he had an emotionally affecting painting of orphans behind his desk. He was an orphan himself, and I was very impressed with what he had achieved as a self-mademan, and noticed his hands-on involvement with every aspect of the company. He told me, ‘Marketing does not make a product,product makes the marketing.’ At the time, I thought it was not only wrong, but stupid. Now I understand what he meant”. Vergez did not stay long at Luxottica because of his refusal to be tamed by corporate culture.
Hard times came knocking when investors in Jee Vice, the highly successful eyewear brand started by Vergez in 2004, decided that he was dispensable. “It was upsetting; I have seen financial greed edge out creativity on more than one occasion. But I moved to Hong Kong and regrouped. I wanted to create a situation where that could not happen again, build a business that married my experience andideals. I joined forces with my childhood friend, Thierry Halbroth, a creative director from the advertising industry, and we started shaping the story of our brand to reflect our values. Philippe V (pronounced “Philip Vee”) is what we are and we laid a deep groundwork before finally launching in 2016.”
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Vergez employs his competitive nature and mathematical acumen in the development of frames that excel from every angle. “My math and geometry skills help me see in four dimensions as I envision frames. I studied morphology to ensure my designs adapt to the face and are super comfortable. The fourth dimension is the way the frame enhances beauty and the inner sense of being. When I translate those values into design and the wearer says, ‘oh, wow’, I feel amazingly satisfied.”
By Paddy Kamen
