Eyestylist

With just a day to go until the Paris show opens, eyewear teams and designers are descending on the French capital with new launches and premieres for the coming season and Spring/Summer 2024. Our final feature ahead of the show rounds up some of the latest products to be launching during what looks set to be a very warm and sunny September weekend.

Silmo Paris, the annual optical event which provides a global platform to showcase eyewear from around the world, opens on Friday 29th September at 9am and runs through the weekend until 2nd October. The creative talent of the independent eyewear segment looks set to surprise and amaze visitors during the event again this year through their work and dedication to the production of specialist, quality-driven eyewear collections in all manner of materials, colours and designs – for all tastes and personal styles. Those who take risks in working with new sustainable materials or with new techniques or advanced technology, never before seen in the eyewear business, as well as those who adhere to the strictest finessing of traditional eyewear production will be among those we will be seeking out during the show to ascertain what’s next for the industry – as sustainability pressures continue to grow. Above: LEINZ Eyewear – www.leinzeyewear.com – the Berlin-based brand – will release new styles at Silmo including a special edition collaboration with Parisian fashion designer, Guillaume Larquemain – the styles feature Larquemain’s signature Apple Skin Pattern – Larquemain uses an innovative apple bio-material produced with apple waste from the beverage industry in his bag collection 

One of the new styles from SALT. Optics (C4 2023 collection) is men’s frame Teton, an acetate design with four colorways of black, coastal fog, desert fog and matte woodgrain. SALT. Optics has made a feature of the frame’s custom Japanese core wire, via a stamped organic pattern that can be seen beneath the frame. This hand polished detail represents “nature’s effortless beauty”, the principal design focus that informs the whole SALT. collection. www.saltoptics.com

Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses will release models Carters and Irwin as part of their much loved Oliver Goldsmith Winter Sun Collection. The two sculptural pieces offer powerful silhouettes that capture the personality of the collection which is characterised by a ‘re-imagining’ of classic sunglass profiles. Find out more: www.olivergoldsmith.com

The Paris based designer Jeremy Tarian will launch new products in his mainline collection, including the bright blue version of the Cateri, a limited edition with a 3-layer acetate construction where an optical illusion is created between the thickness of the acetate and the finesse of the frame’s lines. The bridge is characterised by an artistic colour design. www.tarian.paris

Rolf Spectacles told Eyestylist that they will release new colours in the Substance collection including new stonewashed  graphite and jade tones. They have also announced their new Wire collection which promises progressive design and an interesting take on bold colour and colour combinations – a fresh departure for the Austrian brand. www.rolf-spectacles.com

Normandy-based artisan eyewear design label Struktur produces an eyewear collection that is exclusively made in France according to traditional artisan spectacle-making practices. A frame like the new Nova offers a distinctive sculpted look thanks to expertise in variable step bevelling, while the 5 -claw hinge is integrated for a sturdy functionality and ideal pantoscopic angle. Struktur states that each frame is created with 80 specialist steps carried out by experienced artisans. www.struktur-eyewear.com

The sustainable eyewear brand from Northern Sweden – EOE Eyewear – will show a collection created in collaboration with jewellers from Lannavaara (Swedish Lapland) who work with natural stone. The stones featured, which include quartz and mountain crystals, have been used for decorative elements on the frame structures and temples with dramatic results. www.eoe-eyewear.com

Australian label AM Eyewear will return to Silmo after several years absence, owing to the pandemic. The collection they are showing for Spring/Summer 2024 pays homage to British brand New Order’s 2001 album release ‘Get Ready’, and features several on-trend squared and edgy rectangular designs – a popular look in eyewear this season. There are eight new sunglass designs in total with shapes offering a “defiantly young modern aesthetic”. This collection uses sustainably produced bio-based custom coloured ZEISS sun lenses in tones of Brit Green, Rust Red and Navy Blue. Italian-made bio-based acetates carry the traditional tortoiseshell and black frames, while introducing a heavier new palette across the crystals with Wheat, Maple, Khaki. The collection also introduces new block colours in Nude, and pastels in Baby Blue and Baby Pink. www.ameyewear.com

THE AVANTGUARD will launch The Rewilding Sunglasses Collection in Paris this weekend, their 3-part ‘bloom, grow + blossom’ fashion range, made in Japan with a “sustainable approach” – the launch campaign has been created solely using AI

Emerging label, THE AVANTGUARD, founded by Faiza Seth, heads to Paris this week with a striking collection and new campaign, with imagery based on the powerful use of AI. The campaign presents the collection of 11 sunglass designs, made using recycled, bio-degradable and plant-based acetate exclusively. Above: the campaign for The Rewilding Collection is inspired by the  positive connection between nature and fashion – when working in harmony. All the frames are produced in bio-degradable, recycled or plant-based acetate: “we celebrate nature and our role within it, with zero environmental impact” THE AVANTGUARD

“I’m really proud of this collection because it shows that fashion can be beautiful, on-trend and good for the planet” Faiza Seth, Founder, THE AVANTGUARD

The collection includes the Neroli sunglasses style, an upswept and deliberately oversized cat’s eye design, produced in 8mm premium Italian acetate and handcrafted in Japan.

The Wildflower sunglasses (above) offer a hexagonal silhouette, designed for “the free spirited, independent thinker”. The colour story is interesting for this model, with a choice of tones from trendsetting Viva Magenta to a fun ‘patchwork effect’ matt tort.

The multiple details featured for all the sunglasses in the line have been curated with care and expertise, and include bespoke, triangular hinges and customised metal wire-core temples. The temple tips are laminated in a highlight colour and the inner temple tips feature lines laser etched onto the acetate to add grip. The EYE FOR CHANGE is also lasered etched and ink filled on the inside of selected frames.

About THE AVANTGUARD – the brand was founded by the London-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Faiza Seth. Her vision is to create a beautiful sustainable collection that is both fashionable and accessible. Creating the collections in micro-batches (300 pieces per style) in Japan, the aim is to commit to minimising waste while maintaining high standards of production and design. Find out more at www.theavantguard.com

A modernist inspired collection by the Madrid design brand, Bhaus fuses functionality, simplicity and new-season aesthetics

On this occasion, and for release at Silmo 2023, Nina Mûr’s new modernist collection is informed by Bauhaus art, design and architecture. Founded in Germany in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius, the vision and influential design language of the Bauhaus movement has served as the basis for the design of the glasses – their structure and beautiful high-quality, crafted design details. Advocating a union between function and form, and seeking simplicity and functionality in design, Bauhaus stood out for its focus on the integration of arts and crafts with architecture and industrial design, something which Lorena Serrano, Creative Director, has studied astutely for this line. Above: Bhaus by Nina Mûr – the new styles have exciting shapes and a colour story that emerges with different characteristics and moods…above left, model Walter and right, model Oskar – both showing asymmetric details for fronts 

Serrano explains: “We have delved into the Bauhaus design philosophy, which emphasized functionality, simplicity and clean aesthetics, with noble and simple materials, merging craft and technology to innovate and offer a functional product.
 The common points and how this philosophy is aligned with the philosophy and values of Nina Mûr are truly surprising….”  

The new collection, which consists of 5 new sunglass models, encompasses distinctive Bauhaus influences, with features such as clean lines, geometric shapes and simple yet noble materials, minimal codes which are dear to the brand. They move away from an overly ornate style and embrace minimalism in the design, functionality and clean structure of each of the frames.

Melding the arts, technology and crafts to come up with a functional, minimalist and clear design, the collection has been carefully conceived for all those who appreciate elegance, simplicity and modernity in their eyewear design. Another must-see for Silmo Paris this week. Find out more at : www.ninamur.com

The RG1009TI ‘Serpentine’ is inspired by guilloché (rose engine turning), an historic decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material…..this new design from Rigards has been shortlisted for a Silmo D’Or in the Optical Frame – Eyewear Designer Category.

Made from a single-source recycled titanium material, the new RG1009TI by Rigards represents a work of elegance and extraordinary refinement, uniting old and new ideas, artisan expertise and complex craftsmanship. Modern machining and time-honored goldsmithing were both used in the making process, and the materials which were specifically chosen to elevate the sustainable qualities of the design include pure titanium for the rim as well as beta-titanium for bridge, temples and corners. Above: RG1009TI ‘Serpentine’  – a ‘must-see’ this weekend during Silmo Paris

The rounded rims of the RG1009TI ‘Serpentine’ feature the guilloché patterning which is inspired by serpents and dragons; this is applied in a meticulous mathematically predetermined pattern via rose engine turning which involves immense skill. Compensating for machine limitations, traditional hand tools including polishing wheels, three types of sandpaper and blades, files and picks of various kinds – were all required to perfect and complete the rim design.

Every detail of the frame has been carefully calculated to achieve the ideal balance of fine aesthetics with lightness and comfort. Further characteristics include the use of beta-titanium for some elements such as the temples and corners to achieve a “restrained simplicity” which does not take the attention away from the extraordinary work of the front. Finally, the frame is polished with six different sizes of natural, reusable walnut shell media to achieve a gentle luster as well as the signature hand-polished ‘Time-Machine’ patina of the artisan label. Find out more at www.rigards.com