Michael Mauer spent two decades crafting the look and feel of Porsche, but his influence reaches far beyond luxury automobiles. Guided by the ethos of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, grandson of the brand’s founder and one who championed design that is pure and purposeful, Mauer shapes Porsche with this principle as his unwavering north star.
“F.A. [Ferdinand Alexander Porsche] studied design under this Bauhaus philosophy,” said Mauer, vice president of Style Porsche. “When you look at the first 911 that he created, I mean this car really expressed this. The first watch and glasses followed this philosophy.”
The Porsche 911 Turbo S.
Courtesy of Porsche
Mauer is the modern custodian of that DNA, continuing what F.A. started, carefully translating it from the automobiles’ innovation milestones into the watches, eyewear and objects that cement Porsche as a lifestyle brand. Today, Porsche’s design identity no longer lives solely on the road; it threads through every touchpoint of the company.
“Today, we refer to these principles that function, form and aesthetics always have to be in a symbiosis. In our design criteria, we have defined key words, and one of these key words is ‘purpose.’ So that means all the things we do on the car, on the design of the car, we always try not to do it just for the sake of looking good — we do as well — but that there’s always a need, a purpose,” Mauer said, a theme that touches all categories.
Since it’s early days, the German brand has looked beyond the road but kept its connection to the automobile close. When F.A. Porsche designed the inaugural Porsche Design Chronograph I in 1972, he was inspired by the dashboard of the Porsche 911 roadster, making it the first fully black wristwatch in the world at the time, designed to be nonreflective to make it easier to read the time.
A Porsche timepiece.
Courtesy of Porsche
“It was following the same philosophy, very unique and always had a purpose,” he said of the first watch’s details. “Because it’s much better for the visibility. This functional aspect always plays an important role.”
The proof isn’t just in in the cars — it’s on the wrist and in the hands of Hollywood. In February, it was announced Orlando Bloom joined Porsche Design as a brand ambassador, fronting the brand’s timepiece and eyewear collections. A longtime Porsche enthusiast, Bloom shared that the brand has “a unique way of translating the unmistakable design and timeless elegance of icons like the Porsche 911 into lifestyle products.”
Orlando Bloom at the Porsche Design event at NYC’s Watches of Switzerland.
Lexie Moreland/WWD
Eyewear is another surface on which the brand DNA lives. Take the Hexagon Series, for example. Models like the P′8938 are constructed with a milled titanium front and secured by four exposed hexagonal screws — a deliberate nod to the hexagon bolts found in Porsche engine blocks.
Consumers buy the watches and other accessories not just for the branding but to join a luxury lineage, or a family, as Mauer calls it. Like Bloom did, a moment to begin a journey with the German brand is through the accessories, like the first pair of Porsche glasses the actor bought as a teen before he’d even see a real-life Porsche.
Porsche 911 Targa 60Y sunglasses.
Courtesy Porsche
“Maybe they cannot yet afford the car, but they could buy something else,” Mauer said, pointing to a rarified sweet spot, a brand with multiple touch points resonating with aspirational enthusiasts, newcomers, and design lovers alike. “And with that, that’s their entry ticket into this world. From that point you go further.”
He added, “you could even say it’s a kind of volume premium luxury brand. Other luxury high-performance brands sell 10,000 or 15,000 units. We sold 300,000 units[of cars].”
Mauer shared that it’s the engineers, designers and craftspeople whose human touch truly defines Porsche’s character. And engineering aside, there a “a gut feeling” that comes with each creation.
