December 2013

Jacob Kilsgaard Celebrates The Season!

24th December 2013 Jacob Kilsgaard describes a Danish Christmas – with food, fine wine, family and friends.

“Being Danish, and thereby a Viking, you can image all the eating and drinking we have. We get together with friends and family you only see in December, and we talk about all the things we didn’t have a chance to over the past year. We celebrate Christmas and open the gifts on the evening of the 24th. We eat crispy pork with red cabbage, oven cooked duck, and Christmas sausages. We flush it all down with rice pudding and hectolitres of red wine. Good times ahead for sure…..Our traditions are more or less the same for Christmas Eve and day – we prepare the food for the day, go to church, go home and watch the classic Disney cartoons, eat a huge dinner, light the candles on the tree, listen to carols and dance around the house, and open the gifts. At midnight we eat again – and the same procedure is for Christmas Day – only without church and gifts.

“As an only child, I was always drowning in presents on Christmas Eve. My best friend Morten Bast lived down the street from us, and we always put on  all of our presents and met on the hill between our houses, packed with our new clothes, ski-goggles, wearing ski boots and carrying whatever ‘Santa’ had brought us….Silly spoiled 15 year old boys! For the merry season,  hold your head high, be a good host, remember people we’ve lost over the years, and remember it’s all about the kids.” www.kilsgaard-eyewear.com JG

Buon Natale: Luca Gnecchi Ruscone at LGR Reminisces

20th December 2013 “My family and I always reunite in my grandparent’s house in Florence for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We eat fish on Christmas Eve, and my grandmother spoils us with salmon and various traditional cakes and sweets like dried figs, nuts, panettone, pandoro and torrone. We have a Christmas tree, and we open our gifts after dinner on the 24th. We don’t have our own traditions, but there is one thing that always happens that could be called a tradition, which is eating a fish soup at my uncle’s house on 26th December. We also drink a lot of great wines. My uncle is a great connoisseur and we pass from the stiff and uptight atmosphere of my grandparent’s house, to the more relaxed, laid back of my uncle’s.

“Christmas was much more Christmas when I was a child. I would feel it much more and I would wait for it with much anticipation and excitement. The smells, the voices, the tree, the colours and the atmosphere will always be in my heart as the happiest days of my childhood. Now I have children of my own, and I hope to be able to make them at least as happy as I was when I was a child. For the merry season, be good to everyone, and remember that you are very lucky and that not everyone is. Remember to give to someone in need. We are living in a highly self-centered and consumer society, but it was not like this before. It is not what you give that is important, but the feelings you generate by doing so. Think and be close to older people: talk to them as much as you can; learn from them.”  www.lgr-sunglasses.com JG

Images: Luca Gnecchi Ruscone has kindly shared photos from his childhood Christmas celebrations with Eyestylist. 

17th December 2013 We can’t get enough of the gold designs at this festive time of year. Following on from our gold theme from 1st December (https://www.eyestylist.com/2013/12/gold-fever/) we highlight three more exciting, stand-out frame designs with the golden glow.

From Mykita, the popular circular Janis style gets a makeover in a collaboration with Paris based fashion designer, Bernhard Willhelm. The hi-tech gold coloured stainless steel frame is a super lightweight design – with gold flash lenses that will pack a punch. www.mykita.com

The textured gold frames in the Vanni Surfing Collection by Nico Design are designs created in metal with a brand new surface finish. The series includes some oversized designs and classic cat eyes with the unique “stardust” 3-d colour lacquering and pretty “multiplayer” lenses. The mirrored lenses make a stunning counterpoint to the solid frame colour. www.vanniocchiali.com

Featuring soft gold gradient mirrors, and a warm golden honey toned acetate is Barton Perreira’s Rio Aviator Sunglasses. Their subtle shape and classic lightweight and thin design make these an ideal choice for a glamorous occasion this Christmas. Rio is currently available at Neiman Marcus priced at £310.72 – http://www.neimanmarcus.com

www.bartonperreira.com CN

A Steinway Piano…..

13th December 2013 At the top of my Noël wish list is a Steinway –  the piano of my playing days…the happy memories linger and the glorious sound and beauty of a Steinway continues to enthrall musicians to this day. From musical icons Arthur Rubinstein and Cole Porter to today’s artists – including Mitsuko Uchida and Lang Lang – A Steinway piano possesses history, expert craftsmanship, plus an amazing sound, and the keyboard responds with magnificence. I can feel my fingers on the keys now….www.steinway.com

Before Susanne Klemm focused her prodigious talent on eyewear, she created jewellery. Her creations are abundant with originality, as are the materials she uses – silver, polyolefin, epoxy, wood and calcite are among the materials found in her designs. Among my favourites is Oceanum – a ring in a concerto of blue created with epoxy and calcite. www.suzyglam.com

Père Noël – in the guise of Sven Götti – has already arrived with a bottle of this tangy, spicy fragrance created by Sven. The aroma is a sensual treat, mingling nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, allspice, cedar and more! Fragrance ’99 has great warmth and richness – and a joyous spirit! www.gotti-ch JG

Rolf Team Celebrate Tradition….and They Ski!

10th December 2013 “The Rolf’s spend the holidays on the mountains. Christmas without snow and skiing isn’t Christmas for a Tyrolean. Many people spend their winter holidays around our base as well, so the ski slopes are crowded during Christmas time. We prefer a small lift in Weissenbach which is mainly used by locals – a kind of insider tip! Every Christmas Eve, we bake a special bread, with four symbols on the top. Each symbol has a meaning. The pig stands for money; corn for good earning, the moon for a sleepy person, and the barrel means someone who is drunk. This bread is eaten on Christmas Day, in a special way. It’s cut and turned upside down, so that you can’t see the symbols on top. Now everyone takes a piece of the bread and looks at what symbol is on it. That forecasts how your next year is going to be!

“Our Christmas traditions are based on family traditions and celebrations that are handed down from generation to generation. As children, we couldn’t wait for the Christ child to come and then open all the Christmas gifts under the tree”! www.rolf-spectacles.com JG