Design + Inspiration

Hot again: bordeaux + burgundy + eggplant

12th November 2019

Warm red wine tones, natural eggplant and deep bordeaux have returned to eyewear for the winter season. This flattering array of hues are an elegant lift for winter complexions and cold weather wardrobes, and an easy accompaniment to work or formal attire – and will spruce things up for everyday. Above: Falvin Eyewear, model Equator in matt amethyst with precious rose gold detail. An all-rounder (for work and weekends) where the purple amethyst colour looks beautiful with a touch of gold. An excellent accompaniment to gold jewellery and accessories. www.falvineyewear.com

Style Miriam, in Bordeaux, is a newly released frame from the British brand Kirk & Kirk; made in France it is produced in an acrylic material with a translucent quality that catches the light. The frame has been bevelled or “sculpted” on the edges which gives it a notable artisan finish. Find out more about the Centena collection by Jason and Karen Kirk at www.kirkandkirk.com

Parisian designer Caroline Abram combines colours in her new bold, feminine collection for winter, which highlights burgundy tones and chic shades of pink, adding hints of indigo, dark ruby and bright raspberry or fuchsia. For ophthalmic model Wisdom, the choices include burgundy/marsala (above) and indigo/purple, with the second colour in the pairing outlining the frame shape and providing definition at the brow. www.carolineabram.com

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Italian eyewear designer Lara D’Alpaos is also creative in her combinations of colours and layering effects. In the new model Kristel from the Unique Collection at Lara D’, she matches black with deep bordeaux as a couture trim on a sumptuous statement cat’s eye that plays with art nouveau shapes and blocked 3d acetate. Find out more at www.laradeyewear.com

Design + Inspiration

London eyewear: Winter 19/20

8th November 2019

British brands highlighted: Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses, the iconic eyewear company, founded in 1926 and Covrt Project, a streetwear label launched in 2019.

In a London eyewear style focus by Eyestylist, we brought together two of the city’s finest street photographers with two British brands that define quality, individuality and eyewear attitude. Above: photographer @boyfromdagbon wears style Winston by Claire Goldsmith at Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses. https://www.olivergoldsmith.com/product/winston/ Photography by David Nyanzi (@davidnyanzi) for Eyestylist.com

The new Gopas Winter Sun by Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses – *@boyfromdagbon photographed by @davidnyanzi*

Model Gopas by Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses is ideal for winter light conditions with lightly tinted sun lenses which remove the brightness of interior light or glare from the sun on a winter’s day. The style is derived from an aviator with a flattened top and angular silhouette. For further details or to buy direct: https://www.olivergoldsmith.com/product/gopas/

Covrt Project: style MP4 – @*boyfromdagbon* photographed by *@davidnyanzi*

Covrt Project’s MP4 from the _Mission One Sunglasses Collection defines this new brand’s ambition to balance innovation and a different design style with cutting-edge quality. MP4 is a hexagonal sunglass with a notable high double bridge and acetate bar. The design has undergone fine machine work to create the bridge and detailing and offers high-level functionality and comfort. This new label’s sunwear and accessories have launched at www.covrtproject.com CN

Design + Inspiration

Orris London introduces bio-acetate chains

31st October 2019

Leading the way in modern bio-acetate accessories

There’s something about eyewear chains that has captured our attention over the last few years. Big brands and independent designers have re-worked their look in nice materials, and with jewellery details and decorative concepts that have turned them into a desirable must-have statement. Above: Brand new from Oriss London: Spaghetti chain in light Tokyo tortoise made from a biodegradable bio-acetate material

Eyestylist recommendation: the Spaghetti Chain in light Tokyo tortoise, light and beautiful to wear

At Orris London, the chic styling of the chains goes hand in hand with a focus on sustainable design and biodegradable materials. Their two chic new styles – previewed at Premiere Classe in Paris in September – are made of bio-acetate, comprising wood pulp and cotton fibre; the Chunky Chain possesses luxuriously oversized links, while the Spaghetti Glasses Chain is defined by a super-sleek silhouette and a completely new concept in styling – one of our personal favourites of the season.

Bio-acetate: Chunky chain by Orris London

About Orris London / Founder Tara Shen created Orris London after enjoying a career in fashion in Shanghai. A London College of Fashion graduate, Tara’s frequent travels in Europe and Asia inspired her to create beautiful, everyday accessories for modern living, work and travel.

As well as new bio-acetate chain styles, Orris London is committed to using recycled paper instead of virgin paper for stationary and wrapping tissues, as well as unbleached cotton for gift pouches. “We are always looking for ways to improve our eco footprint, and will continue to research new materials and technology for a more sustainable future,” says founder Tara Shen.

Orris London Chains are available at Liberty of London, Le Bon Marché in Paris, and online at www.orris.co.uk CN

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Trends: black beauties

21st October 2019

It really never went away. But with the resurgence in influences from the 1980s, 90s + 00s, a return of punk, grunge and gothic nuances, and the reemergence of specific iconic items from those decades including the classic black Dr Martens first created in the 1960s, consistently returning as a style piece, black eyewear is on cue to do particularly well in the next weeks and months, in many forms and with the quirkier of statements.

Part and parcel of the genre are the 1990s inspired narrow retro mask sunglasses, much hyped but always evolving thanks to some of the most creative designers in the eyewear business. Above: 90s style reimagined by Factory 900, Japan: model FA-380. Made in Fukui. For details: www.factory900.jp

A monochrome statement – restyling the cat’s eye: Saturn by Essedue, Italy

At Italian artisan label Essedue the inspiration is on the 80s with a nod to David Bowie and a chic “on point” style. Model Saturn, from the PRIMA line, has a strong round lens shape with pointed outer line in black, underscored with a white lower rim. Find out more at https://www.esseduesunglasses.com/product/saturn/

Made of unpolished acetate, model MMRAW016 – in the Mykita x Maison Margiela collection comes in a Raw Black Havana with Black – illustrating that all types of finish and coloration based on black make up part of the season’s new looks. The panto-shaped optical frame with a raised bar highlights visible traces of the milling process, making each model slightly different from another. For more information: www.mykita.com

We have selected a few examples of the black styles now available for A/W 19/00. For more inspiration visit our Instagram page @eyestylistmagazine.

Design + Inspiration

Exclusive: Lien Atelier jewellery chains

18th October 2019

At an impromptu meet in Paris, surrounded by luxury chain designs, more akin to jewellery than most collections we’ve come across, film director Jenny Suen tells me she found her first vintage eyewear chain at a flea market in Paris. She has worn it ever since as part of her signature look. “Over the years, so many people asked me where they could buy one,” she explains. “It occurred to me that there were no chains produced in fine materials or designed with the modern woman in mind. So when I finished my last movie, I decided to create my own.” Above: model wearing Coco (18K gold plated with freshwater pearls)

Launched this year, the debut collection is made with 18-carat gold and freshwater pearls, a tribute to the filmmaker’s/designer’s hometown of Hong Kong, a city known as “Pearl of the East.” Offering sleek lines evoking the city’s iconic skyscrapers, and a romantic modern feminine design, the three launch pieces are named after women for whom Suen has special admiration: Marguerite (Duras), Coco (Chanel), and Faye (Wong).

“Long associated with secretaries, forgetful grandmas, and stuffy librarians, Lien re- imagines the eyewear chain for the modern woman. Once a practical tool to keep optical glasses and sunglasses from the lost and found, the eyewear chain is now a statement-making piece of jewellery for visionaries who imagine, travel, and create….”

Lien Atelier is stocked at Kite Shoreditch (UK), Marc Le Bihan (France) and Kapok Sun Street (Hong Kong). The name “Lien” means “link” in French and Chinese.

About the founder: Jenny Suen is a Hong Kong director. She wrote, produced, and co-directed The White Girl with legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle. The film stars Joe Odagiri and Angela Yuen in a tropical-noir love story set in the last fishing village of Hong Kong. It screened at festivals worldwide, including a world premiere at at the BFI London Film Festival, was nominated for a NETPAC award at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, and had a special premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival, where it was lauded as an “accomplished first feature from Suen, [heralding] the coming of a new director with the potential to add truly unique offerings to the Hong Kong film canon.” Suen also produced Hong Kong Trilogy, a portrait of the city’s residents in childhood, youth, and old age, which was directed by Doyle. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. Her next film will be a widely-anticipated Chinese remake of Vera Chytilova’s 1968 Czech New Wave masterpiece Daisies. For more details visit www.lienatelier.com CN