KUBORAUM

KUBORAUM is an independent eyewear brand founded in Berlin in 2012 by Italian designer Livio Graziottin and anthropologist Sergio Eusebi. Its name is derived from the German expression for “cubic room,” reflecting the brand’s association with architectural spaces, artistic experimentation, and the transformation of eyewear into a form of personal and visual expression. Rather than presenting its frames primarily as conventional optical accessories, KUBORAUM refers to them as “masks,” emphasizing their sculptural presence and their ability to alter the wearer’s appearance and identity. The founders met in Berlin in 2009 at a vernissage held in an art gallery belonging to a mutual friend. Their subsequent collaboration developed around the combination of Graziottin’s design perspective, Eusebi’s anthropological and cultural interests, Berlin’s experimental creative environment, and the Italian tradition of artisanal eyewear production. The KUBORAUM project formally began in February 2012. Its stated creative premise joined Berlin-based concept development with Italian manufacturing, expressed through the slogan “dreamed in Berlin, handmade in Italy.” The brand was established in rooms of a former post office located on the historical boundary between East and West Berlin. The site was initially converted into a gallery and became an incubator for creative projects. Over time, it developed into a broader KUBORAUM environment incorporating a studio, showroom, and flagship retail space. The location has also supported activities connected with brand identity, image-making, photography, video, installations, interior design, and other forms of visual communication. KUBORAUM’s principal business is the design and sale of sunglasses and prescription or optical eyeglasses. Its frames are characterized by strong volumes, irregular or architectural silhouettes, and an intentionally expressive appearance. Production is associated with Italian craftsmanship, while the conceptual and artistic direction remains rooted in Berlin. This dual identity distinguishes the brand from mass-market eyewear labels and places it within the independent, design-led, and luxury-adjacent segment of the international eyewear market. Publicly available reference material identifies the brand’s founding story, creative location, design philosophy, and Italian production tradition, but provides limited information about its corporate ownership, financial performance, leadership beyond the founders, distribution footprint, and current operating structure. Accordingly, those aspects remain unspecified here rather than being inferred.

KUBORAUM’s origins lie in a meeting between Livio Graziottin and Sergio Eusebi in Berlin in 2009. The two encountered one another at a vernissage in an art gallery operated by a mutual friend. Their relationship developed into a creative collaboration that combined eyewear design, cultural research, and the production of visual environments. The formal KUBORAUM project began in February 2012. From the outset, it was conceived as a Berlin-based creative project connected to the Italian artisanal tradition. This relationship between place and production was summarized in the brand’s slogan, “dreamed in Berlin, handmade in Italy.” Berlin supplied the project’s conceptual and artistic context, while manufacturing drew on the specialized craft tradition associated with Italian eyewear production. The brand’s first creative base was established in rooms of a former post office on the border between eastern and western Berlin. The building was converted into a gallery and served as an incubator for new projects. The space subsequently underwent several changes and became a multifunctional KUBORAUM setting containing a studio, showroom, and flagship store. It also provided a base for activities extending beyond frame design, including brand identity, photography, video production, installations, interior design, and other forms of communication. KUBORAUM developed a distinctive vocabulary for its products. Instead of presenting its sunglasses and eyeglasses solely as frames, the brand calls them “masks.” This terminology reflects the company’s emphasis on transformation, character, and the relationship between an object and the person who wears it. The frames are treated as sculptural forms with a strong visual impact, linking eyewear to architecture, art, and identity. The German-derived name, associated with the idea of a “cubic room,” reinforces this spatial and architectural orientation. KUBORAUM’s identity therefore rests on a hybrid model: an Italian-made product shaped by Berlin’s experimental cultural environment and communicated through an immersive creative space. Its known product scope centers on sunglasses and optical eyeglasses, while its broader activities have included visual and spatial projects connected with the brand. Available reference material does not establish a detailed chronology of collections, acquisitions, ownership changes, financial results, executive succession, or market-by-market expansion. The documented history is consequently strongest for the founders, the 2009 meeting, the 2012 launch, the Berlin creative headquarters, and the brand’s Berlin–Italy design and production model.

1. 2012KUBORAUM project begins

   The KUBORAUM project starts in February, combining Berlin-based creative direction with Italian artisanal eyewear production.

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2. 2012Berlin creative space established

   The brand develops its base in rooms of a former post office on the historical border between eastern and western Berlin, a site that evolves into a gallery, studio, showroom, and flagship store.

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3. 2009Founders meet in Berlin

   Livio Graziottin and Sergio Eusebi meet at a vernissage in an art gallery operated by a mutual friend, beginning the relationship that later leads to KUBORAUM.

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Independent, design-led eyewear combining Berlin-based artistic direction with Italian artisanal manufacturing. KUBORAUM positions its frames as sculptural masks and objects of self-expression rather than merely functional optical accessories.

• SunglassesEyewear

  KUBORAUM sunglasses are the brand’s most visibly recognizable product category. They are designed as sculptural masks rather than understated optical accessories, with pronounced volumes and expressive silhouettes. The conceptual direction is developed in Berlin and the products are associated with Italian artisanal manufacture.

• Optical and prescription eyeglassesEyewear

  The brand also produces optical eyeglasses intended for prescription or everyday optical use. Like its sunglasses, these frames are presented through a highly individual and architectural design language, turning the functional eyeglass into a prominent element of the wearer’s appearance.

1. Kuboraum