A sensual soft style evolves in new designs at the luxury brand
The Danish eyewear designer, Birgitte Falvin points to the sensual finesse of her handcrafted frames for Spring/Summer 2020. “A Nordic ambience infuses our new designs, pure and streamlined,” says Falvin. “The Premium Collection unites this mood with precise details, superb Japanese quality and skillful craftsmanship.” Above: Danish model Marina Ohm wears model Venus; photography by Henrik Adamsen.
Patrycja Walczak wears model Uranus by Falvin Eyewear, in delicate rose gold
Falvin’s unisex aviator shape, Uranus, is sleek, sophisticated and commanding in its expression of quality – ideal for all activities – both sports and professional. The structure is oversized with a dramatic square-ish eye shape to suit men and women. The colour choices are typical of the brand with uniquely inspiring luxury pairings which include mat onyx with mat black gold or mat topaz with 24 carat gold.
Sensual silhouette: the new model Venus by Falvin Eyewear with precious rose gold
The soft, sensual form of frame model Venus is interpreted with a light construction, satisfyingly comfy fit, and a striking matt and shiny finish to symbolise charisma and subtle personality. FALVIN offers the additional possibility of a fully customised design, decorated with sparkling Wesselton diamonds. The brand works in close collaboration with a distinguished Danish jeweller to create the jewellery encrusted frames with a luxurious and compelling expression of individual style.
FALVIN will present their exciting new eyewear designs including Venus and Uranus and the complete collection for the first time in Milan for Mido (trade fair for optics). The frames will be available at international stockists for Spring. Find out more atwww.falvineyewear.com
Cutting-edge aesthetics. Advanced functionality. Streamlined tech detailing. These areas have been studied with painstaking care and attention by a handful of independent eyewear brands creating products to fit with the aesthetic of streetwear: where luxurious – often avantgarde – styling and innovation are presented in equal, uncompromising measure.
Barcelona brand Lool has just announced its flat sport style sunglasses, Lool’s ‘Spark’ (above) from the Non Stop City collection. The inspiration for the line comes from club culture, contemporary cities and streetwear fashion. The glasses mix experimental concepts and new fashion trends with a touch of colour and bold, angular structures. The range also highlights the use of photochromic lenses which adapt to changes in light, darkening for day and lightening for night, when a luminescent line profiles the lens. Find out more: www.looleyewear.com
Mykita & Bernhard Willhelm: LOST – in stainless steel (Glossy Gold)
Mykita’s reputation as an eyewear innovator and its wide offering of sun and ophthalmic frame styles takes in the streetwear aesthetic in many guises with models in the 3D printed Mylon collection having a particularly special allure for connoisseurs of design. On course with a mix of sports and streetwear – and elements of fantasy, the new capsule collab styles with Bernhard Willhelm serve up bold silhouettes with airbrush gradients on temples and eye-catching ‘hanging’ lenses – marking a decade of successful collaboration between the two creative brands. www.mykita.com
MP4 by Covrt Project – from _MissionOne collection
The British label Covrt Project is defined by streetwear cultures and subcultures. Creative Director Marcello Martino has particular expertise in CAD design – and luxury eyewear production (in Italy), allowing the brand to create innovative frames with a distinctive identity. MP4 – from the all-black _MissionOne collection has an unusually high double bridge, topped with an acetate bar. The tech details include a signature cam laser welded hinge and functional ‘stopper’ incorporated into the temple arm. Find out more at www.covrtproject.com
The Italian brand explores a new deep narrative in its latest campaign – Timeless Memories -, located at Alberto Burri’s Cretto of Gibellina. The campaign was shot by Giovanni De Sandre.
The Cretto of Burri, also known as the Great Cretto, is a dramatic piece of land art in Southern Italy, realized by Alberto Burri. The work lies at the site of the historic centre of Gibellina, a village destroyed in an earthquake, and today remembered in Burri’s immense and permanent ‘cretto’ or crack.
“Selecting the Great Cretto was a choice of values and value,” Simone Favero told Eyestylist. “A pure connection between what Burri wanted to convey in cementing the Gibellina ruins after the earthquake and our putting down roots, even emotional ones, in our every action. We can only grow as a company, as a business, if we define our reasons for doing business in a clear way. For us, the connection with the past, and what every day teaches us, is a fundamental way of putting down roots.”
Blackfin 2020: a campaign linked to values through an intensely emotional “memorial” + art work – photography by Giovanni De Sandre
“Cementing the ruins of a city after an earthquake represents the ‘apotheosis of pointless gestures’. With Timeless Memories we wanted to convey our conviction that these seemingly pointless gestures are necessary,” explained Favero.
Blackfin 2020 eyewear collection: on location at the Grand Cretto
This location, and those of past campaigns, have become inherent to the storytelling of the brand and its values: neomadeinitaly, the company’s ethical and historic ties to the land it inhabits; titanium, the concrete material aspect of the product; and credo, the ‘awareness’ of the campaign’s message that, in this case at the Grand Cretto, is not only a transfiguration of images, but also of deep meaning and substance.
“We’re a company and a brand,” says Favero. “Our history and actions as regards production, along with our business choices are all focused around corporate social responsibility. The objective is to bring this theme into the seasonal campaign and amaze people, as we like to do at Blackfin, thereby, for maybe the first time, laying down a subtext which can constitute a milestone in the company’s history. Timeless Memories was welcomed by all…and has far surpassed expectations. It has touched people due to the emotion inspired by the book we have created, resonating mostly because of the choice of a truly intimate, ethical motivation.” For more details about TimelessMemories and the new SS20 eyewear releases, visit www.blackfin.eu
British photographer Mark Borthwick has worked with Mykita through a multitude of campaigns and his latest work for the brand – entitled Light Narratives – illustrates his characteristic unaffacted style and authentic approach with a particularly compelling mood. As storytelling goes, the imagery is perfectly in keeping with the personal aspect of Mykita design, capturing real faces and real glances and expressions in a landscape that is evocative and mesmerising, with wide-open spaces.
Mykita SS20Mykita SS20
Created in a remote area of Portugal, the minimal imagery features deliberate contrasts in close-up portraits, group shots and landscapes, while across some of the photographs are the distinctive pink and lilac movements in light from the sun, a trait that is typical of the style of the photographer. Below: a short ‘behind the scenes’ film from the shoot in Portugal by Mark Borthwick.
The campaign images show frames styles in the Mykita Lite, Decades and No1 Sun collections, in contemporary stainless steel or acetate/steel combinations. In synergy with the photography and the neutral colour palette dominated by blue sky and tan earth, interspersed with flashes of bright crimson fabric, the eyewear designs come in pared down and classical tones of matte silver, champagne gold and black, with some unexpected twists and contrasts in a gentle purple bronze/pink clay combination and a topaz/shiny copper mix. For more information about the new SS20 styles now available at Mykita, visitwww.mykita.com
The UK’s showcase destination for eyewear fashion, 100% Optical, took place last weekend, at the well-known trade venue ExCel in East London. This British trade event for the optics industry presents a cross-section of technical products with a slew of seminars, debates and educational lectures for optical retailers, alongside a broad eyewear fashion “overview” where big and small brands present their lines, side by side.
Among hundreds of different types of eyewear showing across the hall, the creativity, design focus and innovation of the frame industry comes through in the representation of independent labels at the fair; their presence was widened in the 2020 edition with the addition of a small shared section dedicated to emerging talent: Covrt Project (London), Nina Mûr (Madrid), Lunettes Alf (Paris), Lowercase (NYC) and Manu Torres Atelier (Galicia) were particular highlights for lovers of finely crafted, spectacles and sunglasses.
Above: Lowercase from NYC was one of the notable additions in an area dedicated to small labels and newcomers. Built out of a love for eyewear and an appreciation for craftsmanship, Lowercase was established in 2016 by Gerard Masci and Brian Vallario. The team founded the company “with a mission to once again localize the trade of eyewear to the US. Every pair of Lowercase frames is made in the Brooklyn workshop from start to finish….”
Alium Race 2 – FACE A FACE – inspired by the sports aviator
Key colours: Across the show, the freshest statement colours that popped up time and again were bright canary yellow, Pantone “colour of the year” classic blue, and light purple/lilac – with several very pale interpretations of lilac through to pastel pink. The Alium collection by FACE A FACE (above) which combines extremely well aligned technical properties for comfort and longevity offered a mix of vibrant, on-trend colorations with a particularly stunning intensity. www.faceaface-paris.com
Nina Mûr + Malababa collab line – Metrica – Circle in Pale Pink
Nina Mûr from Madrid has a consistent and broad range of eyewear concepts – some created as collaborations. The label is focused on good quality and distinctive design and produces its collections in innovative and sustainable materials – predominantly wood with an artistic palette of tasteful, quality colour finishes. www.ninamur.com
An all-time favourite at 100%: model Cecil by Kirk and Kirk
The colorations at British label Kirk & Kirk are particularly eye-catching in the Centena collection, their unique acrylic line. Centena has some new “matt additions” shown at 100% for the first time and reported here: www.eyestylist.com/2020/01/kirk-kirk-centena-2/ – www.kirkandkirk.com
Morel model 30182L
The French label Morel was also exhibiting at 100% this year. Morel’s expertise in minimal styling takes a new aesthetic twist with pretty seasonal colours and two-tone ideas in the S/S range. The hexagonal shaping of Morel model 30182L combines with the bold graduated transparent shade of blue, and a delicate soft pink, perfect for a lighter look for Spring. Find out more at www.morel-france.com
The annual RCA competition was won by Ely Yili Cao, Womenswear (Millinery) for her piece entitled ‘Your sight, sound and smell, my love.’ 100% Optical will take place at Excel London in 2021 from 23rd to 25th January 2021. For details visitwww.100percentoptical.com. Feature written by Clodagh Norton exclusively for Eyestylist.com.
The contemporary appeal of the palest tones of lilac alongside a few more provocative purple hues have infiltrated the 2020 eyewear and sunglasses collections with striking success, as we head towards new looks for spring/summer. According to trend forecasters, this is a colour to “pack a punch” with a growing desirability since 2018 when “ultra violet” took the title of Pantone colour of the year. Above: a new campaign from Italian label Blackfin at an evocative location, The Great Cretto, Southern Italy. The frame is a combo beta titanium with acetate rim model called Tortuga and is part of the Blackfin AURA collection, pictured above in a purple/gradient blue acetate. For more colorways visit the website at www.blackfin.eu
Sand Dab by l.a.Eyeworks in ‘Blurple’ (the ideal ‘blue/purple’ combination)
The Sand Dab by l.a.Eyeworks is a little bit shimmery, with a graduated soft blue to pale lilac effect, a chic rendering of the trend that has achieved a steadfast hold on fashion and design trends. This pairing of tones softens the quirky angular shaping of the acetate frame. Find out more www.laeyeworks.com
Modan sunglasses by Carla Colour
1980s attitude combined with the most modern tone of luminous lilac packs a punch for girls and boys who love the cat eye edge. Particularly alluring is the matching ‘fresh lavender’ lens tone. Find out more at www.carlacolour.com/shop/modan-astro-comet
Hero by Tree Spectacles
Tree Spectacles has focused in on this colour in both its acetate (above) and titanium collections for 2020. Note the delicacy of the tone in the acetate style Hero, and the lightness achieved through the transparent crystal finish. www.treespectacles.com
This year’s edition of 100% in London will bring together a cross-section of frame collections, with independent labels represented by companies from far and wide including California, Copenhagen, Paris, Madrid and Brighton in the UK. The excellent quality and craftsmanship of the independent collections offer the UK independent optician attending this event much opportunity and should be a point of reference as an important direction for their stores, providing customers with new, exciting design-focused premium quality eyewear.
The fair will highlight major players such as Design Eyewear Group, Orgreen Optics and Morel France alongside small artisan labels and newcomers who we look forward to seeing (some are showing for the first time in the UK). Highlights in this area will include: Lara D’ (Italy), Booth + Bruce (UK), FACE A FACE (Paris), Covrt Project (UK), Kaleos (Spain), Kirk and Kirk (Brighton, UK) Nina Mûr (Spain), and Kame Mannen (Japan).
Above: FACE A FACE will be present at 100% Optical, with Design Eyewear Group. Among their new collections is the latest range of Bocca frames – Bocca Pixel, in eye-catching raw machined acetate, which is sandblasted and polished. The Bocca shoe has been abstracted in this cool collection inspired by 3d pixelated effects. The colour selection includes delicate pastels and exciting patterns. Find out more: www.faceaface-paris.com
Look for lilac in 2020: model Andrew by Kirk and Kirk
Kirk and Kirk is a familiar face at 100%. The Brighton-based company will show its Kaleidoscope, Centena and Spectrum lines which offer uplifting colour and some of the hottest tones of the year. Find out more at www.kirkandkirk.com
Chico by SALT. Optics – in a collaboration with Second / Layer
SALT. Optics are a go-to brand for quality, and continue to do well with the UK market. Their frames are designed in California and made in Japan, with all the attributes of a well-made premium-quality design with unique details such as traditionally inspired pins and rivets. The classic or nature-inspired colour schemes are evocative of the land and seascapes of coastal California. www.saltopics.com
Turning ocean waste into sustainable eyewear: Sea2See
Anyone seeking out a strong, sustainable eyewear collection should visit Sea2See Eyewear at the London show. The collections by this enterprising company continue to expand. The frames are made from 100% recycled plastic ocean waste. Find out more at www.sea2see.org
Lunettes Alf comes to London from Paris this year
One of our favourite French newcomers has just reserved to attend the show in London. Lunettes Alf is an artisan label with a love for retro style and elegant handcrafted design work. Find out about this brand at www.lunettes-alf.com
Cuantica collection / Nina Mûr : inspired by the microcosm
Nina Mûr is attending the London fair for the first time. Based in Madrid, the brand produces elegant, architectural eyewear pieces with a focus on advanced – often sustainable – materials (including wood) and special concepts of design “with a story”. One of their latest ranges is inspired by the microcosm (above), with superimposed layers and materials which have an unusual and surprising finish. www.ninamur.com
A highlight of the 100% optical fair, the RCA competition for new talent is this year focused on the theme of ‘Love’. The work of the finalists will be on display throughout the weekend. The finalists are: Rebecca Armstrong, Womenswear, 1st year; Yili Cao, Womenswear (Millinery); Annie Mackinnon, Womenswear, 1st year; Adam Frost, Womenswear, 1st year; Reiss Dendie, Footwear, 1st year; Kitfung Sun, Menswear Accessories, 2nd year.
To register for 100% Optical, visit the website: www.100percentoptical.comFeature written by Clodagh Norton exclusively for www.eyestylist.com. The permission of the author must be sought to reprint or re-publish the materials in this article.
The first trade show of the year – opti 2020 – set the stage for what’s to come, with packed halls proposing a huge variety of niche eyewear labels, iconic brands and high-profile fashion brands – from around the world.
Our personal highlights at the show will be featured in the weeks to come. They included the new face scanning app at the German 3D printed brand You Mawo and a variety of collection launches that were innovative and impeccably produced. We have much to say on new colour, style directions and design trends, as well as having identified some impactful Limited Editions from California, Marseilles and Milan.
The beautifully curated opti BOXES cater to those who wish to explore emerging collections. Participants of note in this area included from France, Lunettes Alf, from the UK, Covrt Project (winner of the Newcomer Award at the fair), from Italy, Beate Leinz, and from Israel, Tough Character. Above: Leinz Eyewear by Berlin based eyewear designer, Beate Leinz. The collection, which is the designer’s first eponymous line, is presented under the concept of ‘contrasts and hybrids’. The frames feature two contrasting materials – acetate and and polyamide, achieving a mix of traditional Italian craftsmanship with high-end Belgian technology, created and coordinated from Berlin. www.leinzeyewear.com
Lunettes Alf: artisan sunglasses, produced in France
Lunettes Alf was present in the opti BOXES. This young French brand is attracting much interest from top level European independent stores who identify with its beautiful classical focus on restrained colours and shapes inspired from the past. www.lunettes-alf.com
Titanium expertise: Coblens has 10 new shapes in full titanium
Coblens Eyewear from Germany showed its latest titanium styles and a chic new line in Japanese acetate paired with titanium temples called Stadtgarten, coming into stores this season. The Coblens collection has expanded dramatically with intricate finishing and colorations and very elegant shapes in the Endlos “rimless” series. See the latest styles at www.coblens.com
We were delighted to see a new theo frame family for January 2020, inspired by the powerful beauty of the contours and folds of sand dunes around the world. Tottori (above) – named after a dune system on the North West coast of Japan – is one of five shapes in this group of designs that explore soft sloping forms, steep angles and delicate dips. www.theo.be
Neon Berlin: 3D printed eyewear from the German independent label
Neon Berlin showed their new 3d printed collection on an impeccably stylish sustainable exhibition stand that packed into two small hand held boxes – for easy transportation by train. The brand is consistently creative with their style and DNA and explore new materials, groundbreaking manufacturing methods as well as sustainable concepts – an area that was a particular focus at the opti fair this year. Find out more at www.neonberlin.com
In 2021, opti takes place from 8th to 10th January in Stuttgart, Germany. To find further details about the new location visitwww.opti.de
Oversized full-wrap visors (we prefer them slightly retro), geometric statement sunglasses, edgy 70s, 80s or 90s shapes and all the classics we’d expect in metal or acetate. Large or small. Chunky, subtly sporty, and even rimless. Not forgetting the many different versions of the aviator. The streets of Milan are always notable when fashion week takes off and everyone’s in town…and for eyewear, all manner of styling showed up outside the shows, with the emphasis on statement-making via redefined classics. Above: Alex Badia (@thealexbadia) in leather with angular, dark tortoise visor. Photography by Gennaro D’Elia exclusively for Eyestylist.com at Milan Fashion Week (FW2020).
Model Rob Drishti wears 90s vintage sunglasses
The 1990s continues to play a role in 2020. We expect more focus on angular styles for men with a penchant for classic black edgy looks and dark tortoise tones.
Yilmaz Aktepe, Editor in chief, Men’s Health Germany – in Kyme sunglasses
The round traditional eyewear styles are still with us, of course. Classic tortoise designs with the key hole bridge are always a go-to option for the best-dressed in Milan.
River Viiperi, model and owner of @rvgear
Off the catwalk, River Viiperi’s street-vibe look is made easy with a solid metal frame featuring an angled oval eye shape. For more images from Milan, visit our Instagram page @eyestylistmagazine. Photography by Gennaro D’Elia for Eyestylist.com. All rights reserved.
Budapest’s eyewear innovators, Vinylize continue their work in recycling and repurposing material for eyewear with the 357 collection – showing at the opti fair in Munich this weekend. The first line in a new performance collection, 357 incorporates spent cartridge cases as a functional element of the frames. This is the first time an eyewear brand has reused spent ammunition to create wearable frames suitable for everyday. Designer, Zack Tipton said he expects a ‘love it or hate it’ reaction, owing to the controversial nature of the upcycled material’s provenance. “I want to call attention to the casualization of destruction with this collection” he explains. “Not just of humans, but of our planet in general. We have casualized destruction to such an extent that the necessary tools can be easily acquired. And we don’t have the power to stop ourselves from using them.”
Slender design, provocative end tips : made from a 357 Magnum cartridge
The cartridge, also known as ‘casings’ or ‘brass’, is the element that holds the bullet, gunpowder and primer. Casings are made from brass, one of the most well-known metals in jewellery making. According to Vinylize, more than 12 billion cartridges are produced globally per year. In this process, each casing is machined to fit the temple tip and then washed before being incorporated into a 357 frame.
Vinylize: performance collection
357 is inspired by a philosophy of balance, durability and design. The frame front is made from stainless steel and uses a semi rimless construction to hold the lens in place – designed to reduce frame front weight. A compressed spring is discharge machined into the beta titanium temples for maximum flexibility and comfort. A 357 Magnum cartridge is fitted into each temple tip to create the counterweight and a visible detail for the frames. For more information: www.vinylize.com
2020 will be a year that celebrates timeless classics in eyewear, frames that work with traditional forms and shapes, in high quality materials with an attentive respect for artisan techniques and meticulous hand finishing. In a series focusing on classic style in 2020, Eyestylist will highlight notable new labels and icons of eyewear through the year.
The past few years have seen a flow of new artisan eyewear labels, fascinated by quality, traditional spectacle-making processes and an aesthetic that updates classic design with delicacy and style. One of the finest and latest to arrive in France is Lunettes Alf, who launched their first line in early 2018. “Whether sun or optical, alf glasses are synonymous with high quality,” say co-founders and brothers, Germain and Alexis. Above: introducing new shapes for 2020.
Lunettes Alf: designed in Paris, made in Normandy
Alf frames are inspired by the early decades of the 20th century, and more specifically the elegance of the rimmed spectacles of the 1920s to the 1950s with beautiful yet restrained colorations, and hand polished surfaces with an eye-catching shine. Designed in Paris and made in Normandy in France, the frames are identified by a small red thread woven by hand into the end tip – a reminder of their artisan provenance and alf’s dedication to quality and considered design.
Lunettes Alf: hand polished acetate, distinctive soft rounded surfaces, mineral lenses
Lunettes Alf will show their full collection including four new styles at opti 2020 (10th to 12th January 2020) in the opti BOXES (www.opti.de), an area dedicated to new and emerging trendsetters. Their collection is now available in 50 independent optical stores.
About the brand – Alf is a French family business, created in early 2018. Alexis has worked in optics for many years and trained at l’École des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Lunetiers. Germain is an expert in business and works within the luxury sector in France. Designed in their Paris studio and made in Normandy, Lunettes Alf use Japanese acetate and mineral photochromic lenses in designs with a classical elegance, respectful of tradition with a clean, simple aesthetic and predominantly sober, clean lines. Find out more at www.lunettes-alf.com
Iconic designers side by side with emerging cutting-edge labels and the innovators of the industry: the first opti Munich of the new decade takes place this weekend from 10th to 12th January and will provide an exceptional overview of eyewear trends and innovations, with packed halls featuring over 600 exhibitors presenting themselves and their new offerings.
Pushing forward with their long-term commitment to sustainability – one of the most talked about topics in fashion as the new year begins – Swedish innovators EOE Eyewear will present their frame edition made from old eyewear – Regrind. Also showing is the new EOE biodegradable acetate collection – named after Swedish slang words, which has a new ‘chunky-effect’ design expression, and the latest intriguing styles in the Titanium collection. Two of those frames, Krycklan and Ramsan, have a unique design detail which allows jewellery to be attached and suspended as a decoration at the temple. The jewellery pieces are handmade in Stockholm and produced in recycled silver with a tiny gemstone from Swedish Lapland. Find out more details about EOE at www.eoe-eyewear.com
Optical style Gimlet by Res/Rei
Res/Rei is heading to the fair with new thin acetate designs fitted with multicolored gradient lenses, a tempting glimpse of what’s coming for summer. The touch and feel of the brand’s beautiful styles for the season are key to understanding their artisan quality and refinement. The company has just announced that a new collection will also be released at the show. Watch this space! www.resrei.com
Chico by SALT. Optics – a collaborative edition with fashion label Second / Layer
SALT. Optics will show the latest additions in their main line for 2020 and beautifully finished ‘made in Japan’ acetates launched in collaboration with Second/Layer – the Californian fashion brand. The quality and finish of these designs owes much to the brand’s impeccable attention to detail and ‘best in class’ Japanese production. www.saltoptics.com
Spectacle Eyeworks: an exquisite mix of materials
Spectacle Eyeworks travel to Munich from their hometown of Vancouver. Designer Mehran Baghaie combines stainless steel and acetate in his latest designs which balance inspiration from nature, history and indigenous art. Founded in 1996, this small independent eyewear company has stood the test of time maintaining creativity and technical precision in its lines with bold ideas in shape and colour. Their success and innovative endeavours continue. See the latest designs at www.spec-eyeworks.com
Covrt Project – model AS2: a new arrival at opti 2020
For anyone looking for classy newcomers, Covrt Project promises a new style of eyewear for connoisseurs of street style. The 2020 sunglasses collection _Mission One balances technical details and an authoritative fashion style born in London and realised (according to exacting levels of production) in Italy. The brand exhibits its sunglasses and eyewear accessories for the first time in the opti Boxes. Find out more at www.covrtproject.com
opti – the international trade show for optics & design, takes place at Fairground Munich from 10th to 12th January, 2020. Registration is open to trade visitors at www.opti.de. Written by Clodagh Norton.
