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Optical Creativity in Australia

1st December 2012 The lively, joyous colours in frame collections by Jono Hennessy gives a clue to his location – Sydney Australia. Here in “down under” -with  kangaroos and koala bears, amazing surfing and natural splendours, and the dazzling Opera House, is where Hennessy and his lovely, vivacious wife Louise, create eyewear that is sold globally. The land and its history are all inspiration for eyewear designer Jono Hennessy – where outdoor pursuits and cultual dimensions merge comfortably. The latest version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s memorable “The Great Gatsby” (opening in spring 2013) was filmed in Australia. “My designs, inspirations, and philosophy include growing up in the surf culture of Australia, where Billabong, Mambo and Quiksilver were born,” says Hennessy “and we grew up with the same rebellious approach to what we liked, and what was exciting around us. There were no rules – no magazines or people telling us what was cool – or not. You just created things that you liked and reacted to.  I studied graphic design and marketing at the School of Visual Art in Sydney – when I started my business, I did exactly the opposite to everything I had been taught at school.

“For me an influence is what creates excitement, or love, or respect, or intellectual appreciation. An influence has to give you a feeling of butterflies in your stomach and a ‘wow, isn’t that clever,” or “doesn’t that look incredible’!” For eyewear, the influences come from the influences of fashion.So when architecture moves to wood and natural products, we know this will appear in fashion, as it has over the past two to three years. Or it can be an influence of the 1920’s. I saw a Bally 1920’s flying jacket in the window of a store the other day, and was excited by how clever it was, and it engendered the feeling of a First World War fighter pilot heading off on a terrible mission. I got butterflies looking at it. Maybe that is all a bit strange, but as a designer, the joy is in what you make from these influences, how well you make it, and how it feels.

“I love acetate. I love its softness, and its strength to hold the lenses and metal hinges. I love the feel of acetate and the smell when it comes out of the polishing barrels. I love that we use the best polish in the world in the barrels. My joy is to fill the samples with metal files – these are long metal files with turned wooden handles. They are mainly used in wood working, but I use them to hand shape the acetate. I found these metal files in a country market in Tasmania. They were made by an expert craftsman who was so proud of his work. So my influences are fashion – when it results from other influences such as periods in time, like architecture and industrial design, and of course, my passion for Pop Art”. www.jonohennessy.com JG