From Canada, Homa by Spectacle Eyeworks is typical of the natural eyewear styles from the Canadian brand, who have been producing handmade wood and horn products since 2008. Lenses are secured with screws to ensure easy alignment and acetate temple tips are added for easy adjustments. If you so desire, the Homa can be created with handfinished temple engravings adding a touch of the exotic. www.spec-eyeworks.com CN
1st June 2015 “Shoes are one of the most telling aspects of dress. Beautiful, sculptural objects, they are also powerful indicators of gender, status, identity, taste and even sexual preference. Our choice in shoes can help project an image of who we want to be,” says Helen Persson, Exhibition Curator for Shoes: Pleasure and Pain.
Included in this splendid show are shoes from the unrivalled collection at the V& A, plus international collections, and wardrobes of private individuals. Shoes worn by or associated with high profile figures including Queen Victoria, Marilyn Monroe, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Beckham and the Hon Daphne Guinness, among others, are featured. The famous ballet slippers designed for Moira Shearer in the 1948 film The Red Shoes are on display. Footwear for men and women by seventy designers including Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Vivienne Westwood and Jimmy Choo will also feature in the more than two-hundred pairs of shoes included in the exhibition.
Shoes from ancient Egypt, men’s shoes from India, shoe fashions from the European royal courts, and today’s trend-setting designers provide amazing examples of footwear through the centuries. Shoes: Pleasure and Pain is the latest in a continuing series of fascinating fashion presentations at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The exhibition opens on 13 June and continues until 31st January 2016. www.vam.ac.uk/shoes JG
Photos: Top image: Freed of London red ballet shoes made for Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes (1948) silk satin, braid and leather, England 1948. Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Northampton Museums and Art Gallery; Roger Vivier for Christian Dior image Copyrighted Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Chopines: image copyrighted Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Parakeet Shoes: Photography by Dan Lowe
Bano should be at the top of your list if you love Genuine Horn eyewear. A classic retro look, the frame is elegant for men or women. Gotti uses the highest quality buffalo horn and hand polishing techniques that provide a luxurious lustre on the natural material. An eyewear experience to remember. www.gotti.ch CN
Influenced by East Asian calligraphy and the Lunar calendar, Rigards RG0061 is a collaborative design with Shanghai-based designer Ziggy Chen. Hand-carved bevels, typical of this artisan horn label, give a graceful three-dimensional handmade finish, referencing the fluid brushtrokes of Oriental penmanship. Parts of the frame are also hand-polished for a silky smooth effect similar to the surface of a writer’s inkstones. As always, Rigards focuses on unique artisan style and quality in eyewear produced out of solid genuine horn pieces. Choose from bespoke European or Asian fit for maximum comfort. Rigards optical and sunglass designs are now available in London at Specstacular Opticians, www.specstacular.london www.rigards.com CN
“I started working in the optical/ophthalmic field in 1993, and then also started to work in fashion. Passionate about accessories since childhood, the spark snapped during a trip to Caracas, after my studies, when I was hit by a pair of sunglasses worn by a young tourist. A glance is able to lead us into new worlds and fantasies just watching what is around us, and through the glance we experience and learn. Glances are the protagonists of memories, sensations, emotions, and make eyewear the King of accessories.
“As a self-taught designer, I decided to form my own eyewear label “Pollipo’ Occhiali” in 2000, inspired by my passion for acetate glasses. Acetate is just my favourite material for eyewear. My love for accessories – and pearls in particular – led me to create my collection of jewels, and the unique, creative line of jewel clutches…which are not only for glasses. The collections are fully handmade in Italy, and I’m always focusing on the combination between colours of the acetates, with the colours of the gemstones and leathers. The leathers are from Tuscany, and I choose the gemstones during my world travels, discovering special gems such as the Rhodochrosite from Argentina, a beautiful pink to red-rose stone. I’m also passionate about Red Coral which I select from Torre del Greco in Italy.
“Another stone I use is the enchanting Pietra Paesina from Tuscany, a stone that hides inside designs that look like the work of a painter, but really are absolutely natural and stimulating. So sometimes there is a surprising landscape. Turquoise from Arizona I use, but always and above all I am fascinated by selecting and researching pearls!
“I get intuition to create eyewear and jewels by the sea, basically it is my homeland of inspiration. I live in this atmosphere, and the sea is around me everyday, as my home is located in the seaside of beautiful Roma. ” www.pollipocchiali.it JG
