Design + Inspiration

Warm Tones for Winter

30th October 2012 There is nothing like a splash of vibrant red to uplift the spirits! This season red eyewear is plentiful, in a variety of tones, and sometimes teamed with black, for a hint of mystery. If concerned that red is too harsh for your skin tone, designers have taken this into consideration. The beautiful transparency of Lafont’s Lido (above) provides a lovely, luminous glow to the skin. www.lafont.com

Swiss designer Didier Voirol is also a sculptor, and these skills are handsomely crafted in Odile (above). The acetate front is striking in black and red, and the temples are deftly sculpted in stainless steel. www.metalartconcept.com JG

Exceptional Eyewear Style by Anna-Karin Karlsson

29th September 2012 The highlight of my visit to Tranoï was re-connecting with Anna-Karin Karlsson, and viewing her fabulous new frames. She described the symbolic theme for the 2013 collection: “I took time out from the rest of the world, and moved to a cottage in the Swedish countryside in order to realise my ambition of creating couture eyewear. In the dark forests of northern Sweden, my determination and vision had few distractions, and I worked continuously and obsessively. “Perfecting the Art of Dying Alone”, the title of the collection, derives from working around, and engaging in, themes of grief and mourning. I created the collection to show the beauty and sorrow of sacrifice, and the perishability of it all.

“The design ‘One Trick Pony’ (above, photographed in a Stockholm cemetery)  originates from  the song I composed, and is my most sculptural work to date. The title plays with the derogative notion of knowing just one thing, and doing nothing but that thing. With this design, however, it stands for the determination and stubbornness behind doing exactly what you want and believe in, and the astonishing results that can lead to.”

Always the romanticist, Anna-Karin says: People want things with a heart – with thought and depth – and I want my designs to live a beautiful, romantic life.” www.annakarinkarlsson.com JG