FATHER$ON eyewear by couturier designer Clarissa Oliverio – a bridge between past and future
The young couturier designer Clarissa Oliverio has created a collection of haute couture eyewear which features luxury Florentine fabrics and silver jewellery. Shown for the first time in Milan in May 2022, each piece is made by hand in Florence with a strict adherence to old-fashioned artisan design and handcrafting. Oliverio describes her designs as “the first glasses in the world set with the velvets and silk brocades of Florence, handmade with nineteenth-century looms, expertly created by the Master weavers of the historic Lisio Silk Art Foundation, established in 1971 to preserve and pass on the work of the Giuseppe Lisio 1906 Manufactory. This extraordinary foundation possesses looms from the end of the 19th century, and produces silk in the old-fashioned way, with just a few centimetres of fabric being produced in one day. Above: the model ‘Rinascimento Fiorentino’ (Florentine Renaissance) – has a structured design with a flat top in white Mazzucchelli acetate featuring a silver crocodile on the temple and silk brocade insert
“Our glasses are all handcrafted, as well as their precious decorations,” says Clarissa Oliverio, CEO and Couturier. “In addition to the insertion of velvets and silk brocades handmade with the looms from the late nineteenth century in Florence, our models boast silver jewellery applied to the frame, handcrafted by the well-known Florentine goldsmith Marco Cantini.”
About the brand: FATHER$ON was founded by Clarissa Oliverio and the collection was launched for the first time at MIDO in 2022. Born and raised in Italy in the city of Como, better known as “Lake Como”, of parents who made and traded items in pure silk, Clarissa Oliverio grew up with a natural love of craftsmanship of hand-made silk items; through contact with her family’s workshop, she developed a strong passion and inclination for superior artisan creativity and historic modes of production by hand. In recent years she has dedicated herself to the creation of the FATHER$ON project, which was born as a family start-up. Working with her partner, Emanuele Dani, Florentine by birth, Clarissa has turned her artistic capabilities into a business reality that has been well received by the sector for its originality and style. She says: “Constancy and total dedication and an immeasurable passion for the creation of FATHER$ON eyewear always push us beyond the innumerable difficulties, but also towards the enormous satisfactions that an Italian start-up can encounter. We are Italians who are proud of the artistic history of their country, and we aim to create a link between truly creative design and the Italian excellence of the workmanship that passes between the expert hands of the Italian workshops and the historic ones of Florence.” Find out more: www.fathersonfirenze.com