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.”
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