July 2012

Summertime!

….the season for leisurely pursuits and pastimes. We entice you with our Summer Accessory Edition this month featuring frames (in REVIEWS), cases, hats, bags, Olympic sunglasses and other beautiful accessories you’ll find throughout the month on Design & Inspiration. Travel to Germany for our Designer of the Month and a superb boutique in Berlin. And check out our guest appearance from Ophelia Horton in brilliant sunnies!

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Eyewear Necessities

La Loop Accessories for Glasses

30th July 2012 Eyewear lovers never like to lose cherished spectacles. Avoid this scenario with fashionable, chic chains and cords from California based La Loop. Designer Elizabeth Faraut has the perfect – and practical – solution to keep track of your specs with her collection of unique creations. For summer, The Clifton (above) is stunning in beautiful white Venetian braided leather, and a silver-plated flat loop to hold the glasses.

 

Slinky gypsy chain by La Loop

Get into a gypsy mood with this handmade brass chain that is soft and smooth on the skin – a great looking piece and so handy to protect frames. www.laloop.com JG

 

New launch in England

Modern British Design by Fan Optics

26th July 2012 McClintocks – www.mcclintock-eyewear.co.uk –  in Covent Garden are hosting a launch party for Fan Optics tonight…this is a new Brit eyewear label, headed by graphic designer Sarah Coburn and Guillaume Furminger, product designer, and made, say the duo, exclusively in a boutique workshop in Essex, England.

Eyestylist.com asked designer Guillaume Furminger to comment on the decision to produce the frames by hand in the UK: “We have spent a lot of time sourcing the right manufacturing base for us and we are really proud to be producing and designing in England. We believe that more and more people are looking for quality rather than throw-away fashion and we want to use the vast array of home-grown talent we have in this country to continue to develop and move our brand forward. English craftsmen are some of the best in the world so why make anywhere else!

“Our backgrounds are in fashion, graphic and product design. With Sarah’s eye for fashion and graphic design combined with a product design and development background we believe we have a great combination of skills and talents. Eyewear was the natural direction for us to use our skill base to its potential.”

JISCO
ROLF Spectacles
ERKERS
Orgreen
SILMO Paris 20-23 SEPT 2024
OGI Eyewear
MOREL
Loft. New York. March 14-17
Vala from Fan Optics, modelled by Lili

The debut collection features six luxe optical and sunglass styles, each offered in 3 acetate colours. The style that caught my eye (sunglass style Vala above) has a quirky, unusual modified triangular shape and a frosted transparent finish. Fan Optics designs are named after old-English regional names. Ailen meaning made of oak, is created from an amber toned acetate. The two slender round frames are called Brock meaning Badger and Osbert meaning Inspired. For more on this inaugural British-made collection, visit  www.fanoptics.co.uk. Available now at McClintocks in Floral Street – Covent Garden, London. CN

 

Just for Kids – So Cool!

Zoobug Celebrates London 2012 With Super Sunglasses

July 25th 2012 This youngster may not be competing in the Olympics (yet!) but he’s ready for the occasion with sunglasses that feature 100% UV Category 3 lenses that offer excellent protection and optical quality. Eyewear specialist Zoobug is the official license holder for London 2012 and TeamGB sunglasses for children. The designs are suitable for ages 2-12 years old, with adjustable fit. Decorated with London 2012 and TeamGB flags in spirited colours, these are frames that kids will adore! Available online at www.zoobug.com JG

100% Optical London 24 to 26 February 2024 at Excel London - register for free
MOREL
GIGI STUDIOS
JISCO
BLACKFIN
DIFFUSER Tokyo
SALT.

Ophelia Horton, teen fashion blogger

on “peeper style and gobsmackingly awesome sunglasses”

21st July 2012 I have been working with Ophelia of ‘Who’s that Girl?’ – http://opheliahorton.wordpress.com – on this feature for a few weeks and she has produced the images you see here herself. Working on this has been very enjoyable, and the results are super and fun; we chatted a bit by email then she sent me loads of material about what she likes and the details she has noticed in the season’s collections – she favours some quality high fashion labels and some seriously quirky things (as we do here!) and she has a lot of interesting things to say on the subject for such a young fashionista. So here is our interview with this cool British schoolgirl who knows more about Prabal Gurung and the allure of the S/S 12 oversized catty shapes than many an adult style blogger….her pictures show off some super chic and perfectly now sunglass styles that you just might want to get your hands on should the sun be about to settle in for the rest of July; looks like it today. Don’t forget to follow Ophelia’s blog here: http://opheliahorton.wordpress.com/

What have you seen this season that you like the most?

Sunglasses wise, well there have been so many new shapes and styles to choose from! Probably Prabal Gurung’s lilac acetate sunglasses S/S 12 from Linda Farrow…

Your favourite shape? 

Cat eyes probably: they’re so chic, sexy, classic, effortless, but still badass and like: “I don’t actually care so go away, your opinion is invalid!”- my older sister looks just smashing in a pair of full-circles from Beyond Retro…and I love anything quirky or crazy!

Favourite crazy styles?

I love round sunnies, square sunnies and extreme cat eyes! Hmm..Jeremy Scott’s sunnies are always crazy and fun (I mean, there’s no point wearing them if they’re not fun or don’t make you look and feel downright awesome) – I love his white winged sunnies and his hand sunnies… Tatty Devine’s eyelash sunnies (www.tattydevine.com) are some I wish WISH WISH I HAD…Prabal Gurung’s lilac acetate sunglasses (review at www.eyestylist.com/2012/01/trend-alert-pastels/)  are gorgeous and very natural – plus, I love lilac! There were loads of good sunnies in all the runway shows for S/S 12 actually…I usually don’t like diamanté on anything, but if it’s on sunglasses, there’s just something different about it – you can pull it off.

What should the teen and twenty age group be wearing?

No one should be told what they should wear. People should wear whatever they feel like – I love people like Iris Apfel who just wear whatever, even though they’re quite old, you know? No one should have to wear anything they don’t want to, but for me, I’d wear something crazy, stylish and special. I’m always changing what I like and what I don’t, so I have a pair of sunnies which’ll go with anything no matter what…cat eyes are always cool.. Spice it up a bit. You’re young!

What are your must-have accessories for summer? And coming up for autumn/winter?

Sunglasses (DUH)- I also really want a cool hat, or veil type of thing: like Bryan Boy does – that casual beanie with the lace is so cool! Those things you put your hands into when it’s cold…I’m not into accesories really. Hmm, so for me, just the usual, some slick leather gloves and a snuggly little scarf – winter may be the only time I’m practical…

Are you an all-year-round sunglass wearer?

{LIKE} DUH. How could I not be? I absolutely love sunglasses. I wear them when it rains, I wear them when it snows, I wear them when it hails, you get the picture…? Sunglasses make me feel so much more secure – I feel almost incomplete without a pair of peepers resting on my head! Sunglasses aren’t really just for shielding your eyes (hehe) they’re for style, isn’t it obvious? They can disguise your true identity, or seal it, with an exuberant entrance.

 

Photography by Ophelia Horton, for Eyestylist.com.

Sunglasses featured: Round Key Largo sunnies in black by Tom Herrington at RockOptika, www.rockoptika.co.uk, available at www.wolfandbadger.com/shop/ and the Optical Lounge, Hastings. Square sunnies in red, vintage teen style by Zoobug, www.zoobug.com. Cat eye sunglasses in white, new style by Brit label, Heidi London, www.heidilondon.com available at www.wolfandbadger.com/shop/. CN