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lool

Pep Juncosa Sierra

Words Mark Renton

28/02/2023

The Operational Marketing Director, Pep Juncosa Sierra, reveals how a brand with a strong identity like lool can meet and live together perfectly with the other house brands of the Catalan group

lool is the brand with a story developed outside Etnia and has design features quite far from the Etnia style. How have you developed lool in the last year?
lool was born in 2016 with the aim of developing the best screwless hinge in the world. Making a name for ourselves among brands working on design, lightness and comfort was, and remains, our obsession. This past year we launched our lightest development to date. Weighing just 4g. Cromalyt + B-titanium is the lightest and most innovative frame: made of Cromalyt compound on the front combined with beta titanium temples, offering ultra-lightness, flexibility, comfort and high resistance.

Is there a 'new' lool and. if yes. in which aspects: production, design process, style, distribution, numbers?
No, lool is still lool in its essence, design process and collection. When you bring a small independent brand into a group with more than 20 years of experience and € 80M turnover it makes the wheel turn much faster. We have evolved certain pillars of the brand that have made possible an incredible growth this past year 2022.

Did you leave lool to grow independently and follow its own path or have you given a new direction?
lool had - and has - a very clear strategy, but we could say that thanks to being part of the Etnia Eyewear Culture group it has been able to learn and implement all these years of experience and background in the day-to-day work.

Which markets are giving the best performances for lool and, in your opinion, why?
As we know, there are countries that due to their history and trends are more prone to the consumption of glasses of a certain style/material than others. That's why The United States, Germany or Northern Europe have a good consumption of metal frames and more technical glasses, which is very beneficial for us. France, a great country for the world of optics, is also a very important country for Etnia Barcelona. This fact means that we have many satisfied customers who trust us.

Can you tell us the next steps in the development strategy for lool and the main features of the new collection?
To continue to make excellent, lightweight products that help our consumers and to nourish our 3 collections so that every consumer can find their glasses at lool. The Tectonic Series is our main collection: inspired by Tectonic architecture, it has light, timeless, and colourful designs for everyone. Secondly, we present an avant-garde collection inspired by Stereotomic architecture: we called it the Stereotomic Series - hard shapes and modern designs with a black block appearance. Lastly, the Deco Series: our minimalist luxury, most sophisticated collection, inspired by Art Deco with geometric lines, shiny metals, and decorative elements. In short, we are bringing value and novelty to the sector.

The problems in the supply chain, the costs of raw materials and energy, the war in Ukraine, high inflation. Which challenges are worrying you more and how will you face them?
I believe that as today the rules of the game are never the same for long, the world is constantly changing and evolving. From my point of view, the most important things in any change are your ability and capacity to adapt, planning and teamwork. We are a solid company with incredible energy - as proved during the pandemic. In answer to your question: the challenge remains to maintain our requirement level, hard work and humility.

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