»We define a setting that makes the light invisible at first glance.«

Via Canada (smiles). After my apprenticeship as a furrier at Marco Pelze, the largest German fur manufacturer from Fürth at the time, I went to Montreal and literally knocked on the door of the largest local fur manufacturer and introduced myself to the workshop manager. Four days later, I delivered a fur coat I had designed. He was convinced by the cut, the processing technique, which was completely unknown at the time, and the lightness of the coat.

At the time, the manufactory also had the license for Balenciaga, and I was hired on the spot to create all future collections for this fantastic brand. A little later, the Balenciaga designer in charge came to Montreal to meet the person responsible for the new cuts and the increasing success that came with them. Several months later, at the age of 24, I was commissioned by Balenciaga in Paris to work as a freelance designer and was responsible for the fur division.

People in the industry had been keeping a close eye on what was happening at Balenciaga in terms of fur and quickly recognised my passion and talent. A brand from South Korea poached me and put me in charge of the entire collection as Head of Design.

When furs went out of fashion, I worked for leather manufacturers in Europe and was also happy not to have to live in a suitcase anymore. In the meantime, I had made a name for myself and was also approached with project requests from other segments. For example, a German silk-stocking manufacturer that was planning to launch its first women’s underwear collection.

Not at all. But after an extensive visit to my client’s fabric warehouse, I quickly came up with the idea of using only 100% transparent fabrics for the 50-piece collection. The name “Surprise” came about almost by itself, and the success proved us right (smiles). During this time, I knew some people at Mercedes-Benz, who were in the process of planning the market launch of the first C-Class models, the first more affordable Mercedes, so to speak.

No, no, it didn’t go that far after all (laughs). But I continued to talk to the decision-makers at Mercedes-Benz and I was able to convince them that the entire interior design, the presentation of the vehicles and many small but important details had to be redesigned in order to enable a modern shopping experience in the first place.

When analysing the current branch concepts at the time, I hadn’t missed the fact that the ceilings were plastered with light sources and their countless light points completely ruined the perception of the fine vehicle aesthetics. Nobody at Mercedes-Benz had noticed this before, but for me it was the first time I had consciously dealt with the subject of light. An experience that shaped me.

Of course, I brought in an architect who contributed his expertise according to my ideas. We placed the sales consultants’ desks right next to the vehicles and we also started to illuminate the cars from the inside. After all, as a customer, you want to see what the optional extras that you are paying a considerable surcharge for actually look like. Also, the timing couldn’t have been better, as the Berlin Wall had just fallen, and many new Mercedes-Benz branches were to be opened in East Germany. For me, however, it was time to move on to the US …

That’s right! Originally, I wanted to go back to New York, where I had already had an office for five years, but fortunately an acquaintance of mine steered me to Miami, not least because of my children, who were still young at the time. It was Dr Joachim Mensing, a fragrance psychologist who was developing new fragrances with the perfumers of the major houses at the time. He brought me into the fragrance industry in 1998 to design the flacons, packaging and perfume brands.

I’ve been in Miami ever since and I’m very grateful for this coincidence, because it has become a really special place to live. Here I started working in interior design and, above all, explored everything there was to know about light. At the beginning, 25 years ago, I soon realised that there was simply no expertise in lighting and lighting systems in the North American market, so off we started.

My first customer had just bought the former Gianni Versace Villa in Miami and commissioned me to develop a lighting system for it. This well-known property gave us quite a good PR-boost and I became known as a lighting guru virtually overnight. Over the years that followed, we steadily built our reputation in the field, working with world-class architects like Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and Arquitectonica.

Together with the German architect Oliver Koch, with whom I still work today, we were able to quickly expand our customer base, including high-profile clients such as baseball star Alex Rodriguez or Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi. And even power couple David and Victoria Beckham are living under our lighting.

For me, this step was inevitable once the company reached a certain size. Designing light excellently requires direct influence on the light sources. In other words, creating them from scratch – in form and function. Our production co-operation with Studio F.A. Porsche enables us to guarantee our extremely high-quality standards at product level too. This has made and continues to make us even more committed to delivering the best solutions and results … but that’s the way it should be (smiles). In addition, the collaboration with Studio F.A. Porsche is always very inspiring and a wonderfully solid axis in the Apure cosmos.

The ideal state that we create with our work is that you can feel the light but not see it immediately. While light sources usually dazzle and literally flood rooms and objects, we define a setting that makes the light invisible at first glance. Used wisely, light is a silent servant for everything that makes living and working spaces liveable and really unique.

Anyone who has invested a lot of money in expensive materials, furnishings, art and the overall architectural composition of their property can skillfully showcase all the elements with an intelligent lighting system, and everything finally comes full circle. If not, the eye has to constantly defend itself against light pollution, which leads to fatigue and puts a constant strain on the nervous system.

We basically only plan shadows, not light. We use shadows to develop the dramaturgy of a room. As far as possible, we also avoid placing the light in the centre of the rooms, for example, because a centrally positioned light source usually doesn’t set the scene for the people in a room in a very charming way. In addition, the good old motto that less is usually more also applies to lighting, of course. Not every corner of a room needs to be illuminated and a shower, for example, really doesn’t need stadium lighting (laughs).

We have integrated our lights into the recently renovated Tiffany store on 5th Avenue and equipped the entire New York headquarters of Google with our lighting system. However, we are not allowed to name many of our customers specifically, but anyone with a soft spot for high-tech products “designed in California” can also get an idea of our lighting systems in the world’s most important cities. Apure is, as the Americans would say, the best kept secret in the market.

The One Thousand Museum Tower in Miami by Zaha Hadid was a very special challenge, especially in terms of flexibility, since all 52 storeys had to be illuminated. However, this prestigious project was a lot of fun and kept us busy for a total of three years.

My son Philipp [Vice President at Apure headquarters] had a wonderful experience at a trade show in New York some months ago. One of our customers, an older lady, approached him and told him that she had to wait 80 years to get into her apartment and literally be embraced by our light. She just came by to thank him sincerely. Moments like these are priceless.

We also often find that customers initially only commission us to renovate parts of their villas or houses, but more than 50 per cent come back and want us to rework all the other rooms as well. Quite simply because they have experienced the direct impact of our work on their well-being.

It’s actually Miami because you have a very diffused and filtered light here, which is very sexy. South Africa also has similar light qualities, which I really enjoy. Even if the weather is a bit mixed, the light is still fascinating due to the high humidity. When you’re out and about on the streets of Miami in January, you get the feeling that the whole city covers you with its clear colours and freshness.

It is precisely this natural lighting mood of a slightly cloudy day, without a directly visible light source, that is our best role model, because well-being is close at hand … and ultimately that is what it is all about. Light is simply a particularly versatile and poetic tool that, when used wisely, creates a tremendous quality of life. Our core task, so to speak.

Yes, we are just starting to pick up speed. Right now we have a showroom in my hometown of Frankfurt and last year we opened our first flagship showroom in Palma de Mallorca, where my youngest son Julius is responsible for activating the relevant networks and launching our services. It’s a lot of work, but also quite rewarding to get to know all the architects and clients who appreciate and share our philosophy.

Good architects plan and build around daylight and realise that everything starts with light. At the same time, we are delighted to have a steadily growing network of private customers. For example lots of passionate art collectors in Europe, as they automatically have a strong feeling for the importance of light.

This originally came to us through the Mexican architect, Ramon Alonso, who has already worked successfully with us on various villas and estates. He was commissioned by one of his clients to build a super-yacht from scratch and involved us right from the start of the project. After an initial meeting at the shipyard in the Netherlands, I realised that we also had to take care of the exterior lighting to create a coherent overall picture. To do this, we had to add lighting modules to our product portfolio that were saltwater-resistant and, of course, waterproof.

Although this first yacht has not been delivered yet, word quickly got around among insiders as to who had developed the lighting system, and we soon received further enquiries. We are currently working on the second super-yacht and already feel very comfortable in this industry. It was only logical to take the next step and put together a team to provide the services required for this very special segment.

We have just launched NOX, our first product for the consumer market. It is a completely new type of table lamp, available in three elegant colours. In the near future, we will be launching a range of other products of this kind, spearheaded by my son Philipp.

Of course, the world doesn’t need yet another adaptation or me-too version of a lamp, but that wouldn’t meet our design standards either. Our goal is to develop products that, like good watches, for example, are a constant source of joy thanks to their outstanding quality, functionality and feel.

Ultimately, as always, it’s all a combination of many aspects. My father had a pen factory, and he really wanted me to join him. He took that for granted, but that’s exactly what created an extremely strong rejection in me, which automatically made me go in a different, in my very own direction. But I didn’t get anything for free and had to prove myself again and again, mainly because I switched between industries very early on.

My basic motivation was and still is to make people happy. Be it the owner of a Mercedes-Benz car dealership, Naomi Campbell with the flacon specially developed for her perfume or all our customers worldwide with Apure. But skill and ambition alone are not enough, you have to stay true to yourself and be authentic. That does the trick (smiles).