February

SALT. Optics: Benjamin Montoya and Trevor Dylan Kelley

The energetic California-based team at SALT.Optics have opened their first retail store in Studio City (CA) this year. We searched down Benjamin Montoya and Trevor Dylan Kelley – the designers behind the brand – for a chat about all things eyewear at a special moment in the independent brand’s story and evolution.

What is the current focus at SALT. Optics? At SALT. authenticity is paramount. We want it to run through all aspects of the design and development process. From the inspiration behind the styles, to the integrity of the materials, and the function of the final product; authenticity informs each step and choice along the way.

How have the collections evolved in the last years and through the difficult times of 2020/21? Well, in this current global situation every industry is feeling a crunch on raw materials and production. Even in a pre-Covid world though, eyewear requires such a long lead time to produce. The process of bringing a style all the way from design concept to a frame on a shelf can easily take up to a full year. If you don’t truly know why you’re making a frame and what customer that frame is meant to serve, then you can find it may be lost before you even launch it. With that kind of investment of both time and resources, you really need to have conviction for what you’re making.

The SALT. team has opened a new retail space is located at The Shops at Sportman’s Lodge, 12833 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604

We have noticed some really beautiful new details appearing in the frames. What is your hope with these elegant additions? Thank you! We’re glad you noticed them. The idea is to offer a timeless, original style that delivers the highest optical experience possible. We love heritage eyewear, but it’s not enough to just keep making what has worked in the past. We want to honor what has come before, but also elevate it with design features and quality materials such as custom stamped core wires, proprietary colors of Japanese acetate, and functionally engraved Aerospace grade titanium. Timeless doesn’t have to mean boring. This should be a product that you are excited to wear a few decades from now.

Is California still at the very heart of the brand? How does your retail / optician background continue to influence the collections at SALT.? We both live, work, and raise our families here in California, so it is a big influence on our day to day lives. That is inevitably going to make its way into anything we do. However, SALT. is really only one-half California, with the other cornerstone being Japan. Aspects of Japanese culture such as integrity, discipline, and respect very much inform the SALT. design process. We spend a lot of time in Japan each year to ensure that the production of our frames and our partnership with the factories is as excellent of quality as possible.

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Close up: SALT. frames on display in the new retail space

Our backgrounds in eyewear will always inform our process and priorities in design. As opticians, we were frustrated that it seemed many designs were based on looks and not optical performance. Our goal is to combine the two. There are a number of features that are built into the design to ensure that integrity of the lens, and the Japanese material selection and manufacturing support this. Each piece of SALT. eyewear is specifically crafted to help the dispensing optician provide the most elevated product possible and deliver the highest optical experience to the end consumer.

SALT. Optics; the frames are inspired by details in nature – the nature campaigns at SALT. feature photographic works of art

What activities are important to you for the brand close to home? We believe the most impactful way to share the brand philosophy is to experience it in person. As such, we recently opened the first flagship SALT. retail store here in California. We love speaking about the brand and our philosophies around eyewear, but it’s amazing when someone can walk into our space and experience the passion, expertise, and quality of SALT. without having to be told about it. That’s a really exciting thing to see.

What are your plans coming up into 2023? We’ve got a lot planned for next year, new product we’re very proud of, and a major collab that we can’t wait to tell you about. SALT. is growing and evolving in very exciting ways. Stay tuned!

To read our feature on the new SALT. store, visit https://www.eyestylist.com/2022/10/salt-optics-opens-first-flagship-store/ – to find out more about SALT. Optics visit www.saltoptics.com

Felder Felder

for Silhouette

We’ve seen them on the catwalk and now they are available to the public, in a limited edition of 4000 pairs: Special Edition ‘It shades’ with a fun cat-eye design and circular lens by Felder Felder for Silhouette. An ultralight high-tech rimless design, the sunglasses have been launched in four colours – dark green (pictured), classic brown, hip pink and bright neon orange. Silhouette will exhibit at the London show, 100% Optical this weekend. More information on availability at www.silhouette.com. For information on Felder Felder go to www.felderfelder.com  CN

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Finest Seven

Crystal and gold merge with beauty and harmony in this striking frame by Finest Seven. The design captures the major eyewear fashion feature for 2015 – sunglasses with volume shaping, but extremely light and airy. The sculptured detailing on the frame front adds a dramatic touch, and the Zeiss gold mirror lenses complete this chic eyewear statement. www.finestseven.com JG

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RIGARDS

Craftsmanship and enduring beauty are keynote at RIGARDS – and their latest natural horn collection is exciting and directional. Ti Kwa likes to blend old and new in one instrument, with inspirations that are fluid and eclectic. But at the core, vintage references are translated to eyewear in a modern yet non-conformist way, as elegantly expressed in RG0008, pictured above. www.rigards.com JG

Stranger No. 18

Adrian Marwitz

German eyewear designer Adrian Marwitz has just launched a new frame in featherweight Titanium, that is part of his Urban Stranger series. The graceful, contemporary shape in Stranger No. 18 – all handcrafted in Germany – is particularly stunning in a lustrous, shiny finish – a colour that is a lovely blend of copper and gold. www.adrianmarwitz.com JG

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