Lars Kienle never finished his design degree at ZHdK. The agency he had founded with two friends grew faster than planned. He chose practice, without ever quite letting go of theory. Ever since, he has stood where art and commerce eye each other with suspicion, acting as interpreter.

He learned both languages by way of detours. In Scandinavia, that leaving things out is the most courteous form of luxury. In England, that understatement has a punchline one must never explain. He brought both back to Zurich.

His passions read like a syllabus in brand management. Vintage cars, because character is not a matter of horsepower. Watches, because an industry that sells time, though every phone displays it for free, knows more about brands than any textbook. Fashion, because taste is not a constant but a conversation. And the theatre, on whose stage he has stood himself. There he learned what holds true for brands as well: a performance only carries if the play is right. And whoever plays too loud loses the audience.

At Collective Agency, Lars works alongside brands in finance, hospitality and luxury goods. And asks them uncomfortable questions.

Art and commerce, they say, are mutually exclusive. Lars Kienle considers that a misunderstanding, and has made a profession of it.