Creative spirits

Meima Eyewear

1st October 2011 Anthony Meima’s original design goal was to create jewellery. The eyewear industry and customers are fortunate that he changed his mind! Once Meima started optical studies, he became intrigued with the creation of frames. “I worked as a Product Manager for Beausoleil and Christian Lacroix, and became fascinated with acetate. Then I started to make my own designs by hand, and bought my own machine, which I had at home, then a second machine!  I made prototypes for Chloë and frames for fashion shows.”

This is clearly a man who persists.  And that persistence has paid off with his beautiful collections that are sold globally. As we chat in his charming little atelier in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, Meima expresses his passion for design and frames, and particularly his love of acetate.  “Acetate is fabulous”, he enthuses, as he spreads a multitude of acetate colorations and gradations on the table, “and I really understand what goes into a pair of frames, and what makes quality frames expensive, because I made my own. The construction of my frames in particular, is quite special, because of the thickness that I like on the temples.  What is sad is that it’s more and more difficult to find artisans to make frames like this, young people are not going into this trade.”

Meimas’s collections include ophthalmic and sunglass styles for men and women, with everything handmade in France.  Certain styles have a thin strip of crystal in the design, giving the frame a luminous sheen and feeling of light. “I find inspiration everywhere, especially with travel, and people in the streets, or in the bus,” says Meima, “plus, the style and influence of the Bauhaus period is another inspiration.  I don’t want to make crazy frames; I like classical shapes with a modern look.”

And this Meima has achieved with grace and elegance. www.meima.fr JG

L.G.R. Sunglasses

I spoke with Luca Gnecchi Ruscone over the summer by phone, and was immediately struck by his genuine enthusiasm for eyewear design, and fascination for the rediscovery of lost craftsmanship.

” In 2002, while I was accompanying by grandfather on a trip to Eritrea, I made a discovery which changed my life, and has brought me to this point with the brand L.G.R. which is really just at the beginning, we have so much more to tell.

My grandfather had lived in Eritrea for 40 years; he was a war photographer and after the war ended he decided to stay in Eritrea, and opened four photographic shop which became known as Foto Ottica Bini. He became a representative for Leika and other brands like Kodak. He then started importing frames and lenses, but not long after he became a shoe manufacturer for the local market. The shops became his second business. In 1974, with the revolution he had to leave and he lost everything. Quite amazingly, in 2000 the government called my grandfather to say that he would get some of his properties in Eritrea back, including one of the optical stores and the apartment above it.

I accompanied him on this trip back in 2002 – he was 92 and I was a graduate at the time. I stayed for one month in Asmara, a beautiful place with an incredible climate. I loved the atmosphere. I decided to drive around and visit the coast, but I needed some sunglasses…when I went downstairs in my grandfather’s shop and talked to my father’s colleague Bruno I looked in some closets and I found some incredible frames….and beautiful vintage lenses…Bruno fitted lenses in three pairs of sunglasses for me, and I was really impressed by how beautiful they were. At that point I decided to take 15 pairs back home to show friends and family and, as I was expecting, everybody was amazed that they were so wonderful.”

Months after this I was still getting emails from people asking for the sunglasses so I had more pairs sent over, and this allowed me to get the capital together to start my own business. By 2007 I started producing my own models. The first four models I produced were based on the original frames I had found in Eritrea…models Asmara, Keren, Massawa and Casablanca.”

Where do you produce your frames, how do you achieve true craftsmanship in the collections you are now designing, and quality that matches up to that of the frames you found in Africa? :”This is another beautiful side of what happened. I was running out of sunglasses, so I asked my grandfather how he thought I could create more with the same beautiful characteristics. He said go to Japan or China where you are living, and you will have them made cheaply and easily there. But I said no, these glasses have a history, they were made in the old way, how things were made in Italy before the economic boom in the 60s. Everything was made by an artisan and sold from the “bottega” in a very different way back then. So, I tracked down the address of the workshop near Prato where the frames were originally made and I just turned up there. An old lady opened the door, I explained who I was, and she said that her husband used to make the sunglasses, but that they had closed 20 years ago. Her husband showed me the warehouse where he used to make the frames, he had all the original machines and he explained the whole process to me. His eyes were shining it was very exciting and  I couldn’t stop thinking about how we might get this working again. Now, just a few years on, we are producing the frames in Florence in this original workshop, and we have opened two other workshops including one in Naples.”

What will you launch for SILMO? “I am planning four new models of sunglasses and two new opticals. We are introducing two new colours of acetate which are very modern in a way, compared to what L.G.R. stands for, its classicism, its heritage. I want to show the market we are not just a vintage or retro brand. I want to show, and I have already given a first taste of this in our RAW LImited Edition which we presented three months ago, that we can achieve some modern and technical creations. We are introducing the polarised Neophan lenses, which offer incredible clarity – it’s a really unique eyewear experience. We are doing these lenses in a greenish blue called aquamarine and a vermillion.”

Does this mean you want to be an innovator in eyewear?  “No, I want to bring back in some way what has been lost from the past, making no compromise with the price. I want to work towards offering the best quality lenses with the best quality frame at the right price. At the moment the brand is very exclusive as we have a very exclusive distribution, but this is just the beginning…. you have to start from the top and the rest will follow in time. I want to bring back what has been lost from the past to consumerism, we have cut away too many things and we have forgotten so much. I see this from my grandfather of how he speaks, how he eats, how he buys… and I respect so much these past attitudes in life. I want these aspects to be reflected in my glasses.”  CN

www.lgr-sunglasses.com

Götti Eyewear, Zurich, Switzerland

Sven Götti is the creative spirit and force behind this iconic Swiss brand. Sven describes in his own words, the history of Götti and his harmonious approach to design.

“I opened the optical shop GÖTTI + NIEDERER in Lucerne together with Urs Niederer in 1993. Through interior design, which was revolutionary at the time, plus highly respected window displays and unprecedented exhibitions, our shop quickly became known beyond the borders of Switzerland. After working hard for three years to build the business, and gathering plenty of experience, it was time for me to launch my own collection. This was new territory for me, since eyewear design was not part of an optician’s education. I soon found a CAD computer program and began to design the first eyeglasses for our shop in the evenings and on weekends. We had these produced from buffalo horn in small production series. When I took the step into independence, I assumed a very important principle that is still with me today: to always choose that which I can stand behind personally, with pleasure and consistency. Since I still design our own collection according to this creed today, my signature is still recognizable throughout the collection. What I find fascinating is that in this way, I address precisely the customer that I also tend to like.  After fourteen years of dedication, I am still enthusiastic about this exciting work, and continue to be astonished by what is possible when it comes to eyeglasses and people. I like to compare the creative process of new eyeglasses with composing new melodies. Even with a fixed number of notes, new songs are continuously being composed.  In principle, I design eyeglasses like a composer – variations in shape are my notes, and only the perfect form has the right sound.

“For creative inspiration, I let myself be guided by fashion flow and trends.  To find these and anticipate them is a continuous process.  I often find inspiration on the road. Everywhere I go, I look for input, new designs and trends.  A walk in a city, where I see people and faces, belongs to my work. It can also be a very old model that draws my attention.  I sometimes think, ‘Wow! they had a good solution at that time.’  In our collections, we process all possible materials, like genuine horn, titanium, acetate and epoxy.  Acetate I find a particularly valuable material. The infinite varieties of colour combinations challenge the creative process.  To bring out these often hidden colours in the production of all three dimensions is fascinating. Last year, we introduced the SPIN & STOW mechanism, which makes it possible to create flat sunglasses by twisting the temple. This feature gave us a lot of fun and brought positive feedback. It is our goal to inspire our customers with beautiful shapes in addition to new technical solutions. It’s exactly this point I find so exciting and challenging about eyewear design – the combination of shapes, fashion and technology.” JG

Finest Seven

New-Zealand born Jesse Stevens, the designer behind Finest Seven, says he is dedicated to excellence. So much so that he is producing some of the styles in his new sunglass collection in the UK where he can oversee every stage of the process and ensure the use of the very best artisan techniques whilst embracing new technologies. His intention is to keep the brand small and very exclusive, with a handful of retail outlets that understand the quality and unique handcrafting of the pieces he has made in a limited number – once sold, these will not be remade.

After 5 years working as an eyewear designer for a number of prestigious internationally renowned eyewear labels, Stevens has created a brand that is quality-driven and, he says, very distinctive. Trained in sculpture, he explains his interest in other design disciplines. He has experience of techniques such as fine metal casting and polishing from this period of his career, skills that are influencing his work in eyewear and choice of luxury metals.

The name Finest Seven refers to the 7 key aspects of eyewear production which the designer strives to incorporate in each Finest Seven design: components, lenses, materials, colour/finish, design, comfort/fit, manufacture. Each area is carefully considered so that the details resonate luxury – from the Carl Zeiss lenses to the handmade cases, produced in Spain by a small artisan company sourced by the designer.

How did the launch go? Jesse explains that he is very happy to have the collection out in the market, and to begin the processes for the creation of the next season’s designs, which he says will include some limited colours especially developed for the snow. “It is a great chance to use some very high quality sports lenses with the usual Finest Seven flare for colour.”

“I am also proud to announce the launch of our Full Bespoke Service. ‘Limit your edition’ is a one to one service for fitting and design. I have been fortunate to track down a craftsman in the Italian Alps. He is a real master with eyewear. I am very excited about this service and we look forward to providing an exceptional level of design and exclusivity.”

And are there new additions to the current luxury line? Jesse says he will add two styles in 2012 using some classy vintage hinges he has unearthed; and there is another Limited Edition also underway.

Finest Seven was launched in the UK in May and is now available in Harvey Nichols, The Eye Company and Hostem. New retailers include Bloomingdales, Dubai, Optical Tailor Cradle, Tokyo, and Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong, planned for later this year. CN

www.finestseven.com

Leisure Society Designer Inspired by Life

June 2011 A conversation with Shane Baum is always a rewarding experience.  The American  designer of supremely elegant, luxurious Leisure Society, has astute viewpoints on eyewear, design and business that he shares with Eyestylist.

Design philosophy: “I don’t rely on the eyewear industry for inspiration, but search in other creatively driven industries.  Furniture design, watch manufacturers and electronic products often inspire me.  I also feel it is important to be honest with yourself.  As a ‘designer’, you must reflect and disassociate yourself from your finished drawings, and judge them with harsh cynicism.  My best design decisions often involve a trash can and fresh sheets of paper.”

Preferred materials: “I like working in gold-plated titanium.  It is such a luxurious material and completely inert.  It lasts forever.  The inherent flexibility of this combination of materials allows one to engrave it, shape it, mould it and texture it in a very detailed manor that permits limitless possibilities. Platinum would be interesting too.  We are working with Tigers Eye, Ruthenium and Buffalo Horn for Spring 2012. History has shown that luxurious materials hold their value better over time.  This is the essence of Leisure Society’s ethos of “Heirloom Design.”

Creative inspiration: “I maintain a ‘child like’ enthusiasm for designing eyewear. The eyewear industry is unique: part fashion; part engineering; and part medical device.  For me, the key to success as a company and as a designer is to create proprietary brand attributes that are distinctly my own, and quality attributes that only reveal themselves systematically over time. It is simply a matter of remaining true to my personal paradigm of open mindedness whilst remaining true to our corporate commitment of excellence and self-involvement.”

The future: “I believe the world is entering a period of reverse globalization  We are noticing a trend towards locally made products crafted by classically trained artisans.  The preservation of cultural traditions is increasingly important to consumers, especially our youth.  This demographic wants meat from a butcher, watches from a watchmaker, and shoes from a cobbler.  For eyewear, a brand focused on quality and innovation should enjoy ‘just rewards’.”

Leisure Society designs are available internationally in high fashion shops and eyewear boutiques.  www.leisure-society.com JG