In 1997 three Danish friends founded Ørgreen Optics in the design capital Copenhagen. They wanted to design strong and timeless frames for quality-conscious individuals all over the world. This brand has established itself as Danish design at its best and continues to expand its titanium success story with the support of optical retailers worldwide.
The Ørgreen trademark symbolizes quality prescription eyewear and sunglasses made in titanium and beta-titanium designed to last. The Ørgreen optics look is playful, dynamic and sometimes provocative. They are made by hand in Japan, known and respected for high standards and irrefutable quality, individually crafted with more than 100 processes, each frame can take up to six months to achieve its penchant for perfection.
The three friends, Henrik Ørgreen, CEO and founder and Tobias Wandrup, the creative force behind the brand and Gregers Fastrup proudly declare that “boring is over”. They tug at traditions, challenge them and continuously set new design agendas.
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Their colors are developed in-house and skillfully carried out at some of the world’s leading color labs in Japan, with a coloring process that consists of more than 15 individual steps.
The company started with sunglasses and planned to be the first ever sunglass brand to come out of Scandinavia. Their first product came out in 1999. Rather than build on fleeting trends, Ørgreen has created a style that is recognizable and consistent throughout all timeless designs. Today there are more than 400 signature colors that are exquisitely composed in an array of opposites, from strong to fragile, intense to tranquil, raw to refined, sweet to serious and audacious to understated.
“The eyewear market has become competitive, complex and more serious. It is to our advantage that we entered the market as a new independent brand over 15 years ago – there were only probably around 5 or 10 brands then that were actually emerging,” says Henrik Ørgreen.
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The values and design concepts of acclaimed Danish designers Arne Jacobson and Louis Poulsen are embodied in each frame, with an Ørgreen twist of unique details and subtle touches, inspired by street culture, extreme sports and classic cars. The Ørgreen aesthetic is playful, dynamic and sometimes provocative, but never arrogant.
It has of course been attempts by other companies to reproduce the Ørgreen concept, but the impact of being the innovator of design has ensured the company its place on the map in terms of innovation and new ideas.
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With retailers in more than 40 countries world-wide, Ørgreen still keeps close to the city where it all started 20 years ago. The company HQ is thus situated in an historic building in the heart of Copenhagen.
Signature Style Optics from Denmark, written by Tor Kjolberg