Niloca Eyewear, Australia
8th July 2015 In need of totally new eyewear styling? Independent label Niloca from Australia have created this sister shape to the classic cat’s eye, with a dramatic, dragonlike upswept design. The frame is part of the Shear Scallop 2015 collection, produced in archived acetate from Mazzucchelli, and is one of several models in the range, inspired by surfing: “I surfed as a teenager growing up along the south Australia wine coast,” explains Colin Redmond aka ‘Mr Niloca’. “I was always amazed by the physics of how a wave was formed and how light shone through a wave when you’re in the ‘green room’. A wave is partly formed by the wind direction above and partly by the profile of the beach, plus a few other factors like current and temperature. The thing that got me was the curling of the wave, as it rose up out of a flat vast nothing. Similarly, eyewear is traditionally very flat as frames are cut from a flat slab of acetate. It’s a feature of my work to explore depth and the 3rd dimension in eyewear, but also the acetate.
“An extra element of depth makes a frame infinitely more dynamic. With the Shear Scallop, we had a special shell cutter made to give a nice concave curve profile, much like a wave at its peak. Cutting this way does a few things to the acetate: it gives a richer depth experience, as light reflects through the different thicknesses, bouncing off in different directions. It’s a relatively simple technique that gives endless ‘play’ on the shape, silhouette and profile of the frame.”
The spirited dragon’s eye Kana is part of Niloca’s Limited Edition Shear Scallop collection, designed for spectacle wearers looking for “a bit of drama in their life.” For more on Niloca, visit www.niloca.com CN
