For over 140 years and 5 generations, the experts at Erker’s have learned how to craft exquisite, innovative frames that tell a story of their inspirations and heritage. Erker’s 1879 celebrates the past as it defines the future of eyewear.
Founded in St. Louis in 1879 by our ancestors, our family has been dedicated to the craft of beautiful eyewear for over 143 years. From photographing the St. Louis World’s Fair to designing the famous goggles worn by Charles Lindbergh during his flight over the Atlantic, our family made their mark in the optical industry early on. Prior to narrowing focus on eyeglasses, our family sold anything with a lens. As the 5th-generation of Erkers, we now strive to uphold our family’s legacy through handcrafted eyewear capable of lasting a lifetime.
Erkers Eyewear is a family-owned business with a rich Saint Louis history, dating back five generations to the company’s inception in 1879. Founded by A.P. Erker, an immigrant from Germany, and later incorporated when brother August Erker joined the business.
The first optical laboratory west of the Mississippi River, Erker’s won optical machinery and equipment awards at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, served as the official photographer for the 1904 Saint Louis World’s Fair, and custom designed the goggles for Charles Lindberg, used in his historic flight over the Atlantic. Early on, Erkers sold everything with a lens, from eye glasses, sunglasses, prescription lenses to cameras, goggles to microscopes. A key element to the company’s success has been the ability of its leaders to predict and identify new trends, not just keeping up with the competition, but leading the eyewear industry. Accordingly, throughout the twentieth century, as businesses have become more specialized, Erkers has narrowed its scope as well.
In the years since, the family business was carried on by the descendants of August Erker, first by his son Eugene, who took over circa 1930, followed by grandson Jack Sr., who took the reins in the 1960s, then by great-grandson, Jack Jr., in the early 1990’s, who teamed up most recently with his two sons Jack III and Tony in early 2001.
Today, Erker’s Fine Eyewear is one of the great American establishments in the world of optical design, and at over 140 years old, one of the oldest.
José Berrocoso, our lifestyle editor, sat down with Jack Erker III and brother Tony Erker, to pick his brains on how to keep one’s sights set firmly on success.
CityPages Magazine: Erkers manufactures and distributes luxury eyewear worldwide with a commitment to craftsmanship, expertise and quality. Are these values that were clear from the outset as the vision of the brand?
Jack Erker III: In 1879, my great great grandfather came to the US from Germany and started the company with a clear focus in manufacturing a top quality product with attention to every detail. My brother, Tony Erker, and my father, Jack Erker Jr. and myself created our newest eyewear collection with all of the same attention to every detail as our grandparents did.
CPM: Attention to detail is at the core of Erkers, can you expand on the level of craftsmanship and the values of the brand?
JE: When it comes to creating any product, it needs a story. If it has no story, you will just be another product. Each one of our eyeglasses and sunglasses tells its own story pulling from a moment of our rich 143 year history.
Each pair of our glasses are handmade all the way down to the polishing. We also have our own proprietary polish that we have created to give a soft buttery feel to each frame that is produced. We have perfected each of the 82 steps in the process and only use the top materials the world has to offer. We were taught from a young age that if you were not proud to wear it, then it should not be made.
CPM: If you could use 3 words to describe Erkers, what would they be?
JE: Longevity, Family, Classic.
CPM: In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis, a single-seat monoplane, on the first solo, nonstop, transatlantic flight from New York to Paris — and he trusted your advanced, wind-resistant, shatterproof, form-fitting goggles to help him make history. Tell us more.
JE: Leading up to his historic flight, Erkers had been in business for 48 years. We have always been known to push the limits of technology and new advances in optics. We made everything that had a lens, including telescopes, microscopes, cameras, eyewear, binoculars, and goggles. People came from all over to get these items from us. Charles Lindbergh was a top pilot in the US army based in Saint Louis, Missouri and chose Erkers to outfit him with the top technology on the market that time. This customization took over 10 months from start to finish to produce the perfect pair of goggles for this flight.
CPM: In the luxury market- what is key to success?
JE: Everyone puts their own spin on their brand, but no two brands can tell the exact same story. We have an extraordinary heritage and legacy the helps create a tight connection with our customer in order to bring our brand experience to life.
We have currently released some limited edition models as well with limited distribution that isn’t available to everyone.
When it comes to design, we need to have timeless classics but still pushing the contemporary limits to give the consumer what is newest in fashion.
CPM: How do you approach scaling the brand whilst retaining quality?
JE: We work with the top factories across the world and have had relationships with them for many years. I am a stickler for quality and it is my top goal to create a product that will last for many years. Each run in our factories are produced according to our checklist and cannot be completed until each item is completed.
CPM: What is the process when you design a collection at Erkers? How and where do you source from?
JE: There isn’t an exact process, but more of an accumulation of experience, watching the market, and listening to our customers. We also get a lot of inspiration from other industries in not only fashion but in architecture, restaurants, and other consumer goods.
Shape is what we think about first. Each customer can only wear a handful of shapes perfectly. So we draw what we think is the perfect shape first. After the shape we determine what materials to use. We use anything from top quality acetate plastics to titanium and surgical stainless steel. Using these materials we determine what the frame will look like. We are always coming up with new techniques in textures and design elements. We are always experimenting with new concepts. We dive back into our history and we always create a new logo plaque and put it on the temple tip. This logo represents a story in our history of our company. There is an entire story about each logo and frame.
CPM: What was the inspiration behind the shapes and styles of the design?
JE: We are inspired each day in shopping, driving to the office, flying in airplanes, eating in restaurants, new buildings being built. We always look at the design of classic elements and are always willing to push the limits of design. This keeps the customer excited about what is coming next. When concepts work in other industries, we tend to take notice and incorporate those ideas into what works for us.
We always pay attention to detail as well. Each frame has a new logo plaque that is a symbol of a story from our vast history. When we launched the brand years ago, there are 31 small stitch marks around the inside of each hinge. These marks represent our 31 sales reps that help us launch the brand in the United States. In the middle of the hinge, there are 2 real rivets that hold the hinge to the temples. These represent the 4th and the 5th generation which design the collection. When you closet he hinge, you can also see where we have stamped the year “1879” into the steel. So each hinge symbolizes our family business and our roots. On each sunglass lens, we lightly laser “ERKERS” into the back side. You can see all of these details when you look for them. Many brands boldly put their logos on the side of the glasses, where we choose a more modest approach of class.
CPM: What will consumers look for: style and safety of classic products, ergo retro and vintage? Or still they have the courage to set for new design spheres? Will they wear glasses that points to the future.
JE: Our customers tend to feel safe with a classic shape but with our own twist of modern elements. We typically will do limited edition releases that always push the limits in special designs and colors created especially for our Erkers. Sometimes I am surprised in how the customer wants to push the limits as well. We have found many customers have become collectors of Erkers over the years.
CPM: Tell me more about what makes you passionate about eyewear?
JE: It is a lot of hard work into growing the business, but at the end of the day, when we see a customer wearing our eyewear that we created, and they are super happy about wearing them, this is why we do it.
CPM: What plans do you have for the future?
JE: Growing up in the family business, this is everything we have known. Eyewear is in our blood! We live and breath eyewear. We will continue to make the best eyewear in the world. As an American brand, we have a rich history here. We are quickly spreading throughout the European, Canadian, and South American markets where there has been high demand. We will continue to focus on building these networks over the next few years.
CPM: Which is your favourite pair of glasses and why?
JE: I have two favorite pairs. The first one is a women’s pair. It is the “PERSHING” in White Gold. This is a modified Cat Eye sunglass frame with a pink mirror finish. It has a beautiful white accent color on the front that stands out in a croud. The coolest part of these is the detail around the outside of the eyewire. We took the radio waves from when Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris to announce he had a safe landing, and we put those waves around the entire outside of the eyewire. It is spectacular!
My second favorite pair was a sunglass I designed for myself and it has not been released yet. It is called the “MOLINE.” It is a strong masculine shape. The colors are like none you have seen, including the black model has cool elements like a matte finish on the outside but super high gloss polish on the inside. It is a much chunkier model with a bolder but still classic look. I like it so much I have been wearing the prototype for myself for the past few weeks. When this model is released, it will be a limited edition model, so customers would have to get on the waiting list for this one. It is that good!
