INTERVIEW L.A.EYEWORKS
GAI GHERARDI
BOLD OPTICAL FAIR | SPRING 2022 |
TEXT: MAARTEN WEIDEMA
112
In the eyewear industry, the name Gai is a true institution and needs little introduction, but describe yourself to us briefly, and more importantly, do you have pets or are your glasses your babies? Thanks for the compliment, but darn it, I was just trying to disrupt the institution and not become part of it! No kidding, I am an epicurean and have never lost my curiosity about the world. I grew up largely in the seaside town of Huntington Beach, where Barbara and I became best friends in high school before we began our journey as opticians. These days, I live happily with Rhonda, my partner for life, and I have five California desert tortoises, three of which I hatched from the eggs of my two elders whom I adopted over 35 years ago. You know we love names at l.a.Eyeworks, and they are Curly, Blanca, Box Car, Jumby and Millicent. How funny!!! I know a few of those models yes, but wasn't aware they were named after your turtles. l.a.Eyeworks is a real family business, almost a tribe. Can you tell us how that is part of the brand identity and how it has helped you grow? The old thinking was "never hire your family and friends" and ours was "always hire your family and friends!" Trying to separate business and lives just didn't work for us as a construct. But there are many layers to building a sense of kinship. l.a.Eyeworks attracts like-minded people to its doors more often than not because of the sensitivity of our mission. Home is a place where you can feel safe to be your true self without judgement, and we've done our best to provide that feeling of safety, both for our clients and for all the amazing l.a.Eyeworkers who have made us what we are today over the
