Frey Wille
 | |
| Company type | Privately held, GmbH |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fashion |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Michaela Frey, Friedrich Wille |
| Headquarters | Gumpendorferstraße 81, A-1060, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Jewellery, Fashion accessory |
Number of employees | ~500 |
| Website | freywille.com |
Frey Wille GmbH & Co KG, usually branded as FREYWILLE, is an enamel jewellery manufacturer based in Vienna, Austria founded in 1951. The label is known for its artistically hand decorated designs that are based on the works of 19th and 20th century artists. Next to its headquarters in Vienna, the company operates 86 shops worldwide.[1] The former name of the company was "Michaela Frey Emaillemanufaktur".
History
FREYWILLE creates artistic precious fire enamel jewelry. A very limited production in a manufactory at the original address in the center of Vienna, where the company was founded in 1951, guarantees the highest quality standards in design and fabrication.
The original FREYWILLE style- a brand new style of enamel ornamentation and high quality fire enamel techniques-was created in the 1980"s by a team of young designers, goldsmiths and experts of fine enameling. The key person in the creation of this new design, Simone Grunberger-Wille, remains a central figure in FREYWILLE's daily business. CEO Friedrich Wille and Simone Grunberger-Wille, a married couple deeply committed to art and inspired by the many joys in life, set new standards both in design and technique of artistic enamel jewelry and spread the FREYWILLE spirit all over the world with Europe remaining the core of their humanistic and philosophical ideas.
FREYWILLE is 100% privately owned and currently operates more than 100 boutiques worldwide with over 550 employees in 35 countries covering four continents.
Current Operations
As of today, Frey Wille operates more than 86 boutiques in 30 countries on 4 continents. The company employs more than 500 employees, a large part of them in Vienna.[2] In 2011, the company opened various stores in new cities they were not previously present in, most notably in New York City on Madison Avenue.[3] Other major cities in which the company has several boutiques are Moscow, Paris, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dubai, Istanbul and its city of origin, Vienna.
Frey Wille was started as a workshop solely dedicated to enamel jewellery. Recently, the company added watches to its product line, especially a gold watch line. Beside jewellery and watches, the company has now also expanded into accessories such as scarfs, handbags, belts, ties, cuff links and fine pens.
The company has its factory and manufacturing unit in Vienna. The products are handcrafted by goldsmiths and people with expertise in enameling.[4]
Product range and designs
The collections at Frey Wille distinguish themselves through the use of colorful motifs and gold. They are either designed with original ideas of the company's artists, such as the "Ode to Joy of Life" collection,[5] or by using motifs from influential artists or mythology. The company has concentrated on motifs from artists of the 19th and 20th century, especially Austrian painters in several product collections. Among them are Gustav Klimt, one of the most important Austrian painters of the turn of the 20th century. For instance, Klimt's painting Adele Bloch-Bauer which sold for USD 135 million in 2006 was used for a whole collection of jewelry.
Among other artists whose styles are used by Frey Wille in the creation of their product collection are, most notably, Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of the founders of impressionism Claude Monet, and Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, the father of Art Nouveau.
Part of the reason for deciding to create collections inspired by well-known artist was that in the 1990s the Claude Monet Foundation approached the company and asked them to pay homage to the artist by creating a collection inspired by him. Thereafter, a collection was created for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London based on works by William Morris.[6]
Frey Wille has both products for women and men in their collections.
References
- ^ "About Frey Wille". free-wille.com. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ "FreyWille opens its first boutique in Sofia". Advantage Austria. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- ^ "Frey Wille opens first store in New York". Advantage Austria. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- ^ Frey Wille - Dubai, Jewellery Dubai, retrieved 2011-11-30
- ^ Ode to Joy of Life at FreeWille
- ^ "An Interview with Dr. Friedrich Wille". leadermag. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
External links
Media related to Frey Wille at Wikimedia Commons