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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.

The popular annual eyewear fair Hall of Frames (Zurich, Switzerland) has issued imagery from its new season shoot which took place on site at Papiersaal over a sunny weekend in September. The frames featured include a mix of advanced materials, from  lightweight titanium to 3d printed designs, with state-of-the-art details, classically inspired shapes and interesting finishes and treatments. Above: Ørgreen Optics Coeda 964, produced in 100% pure titanium and beta-titanium. www.orgreenoptics.com Photography by Nina-Maria Glahé

Dieter Funk’s acetate frames, produced in Bavaria, Germany, lean toward classic or timeless design principles, with modern updates taking the form of special colorations and material/tonal combinations. For more details: www.funkbrillen.com

The Endlos series by Gmerna-based company Coblens combines titanium temples with modern rimless fronts; the frame front and sides are attached to the lenses with small antique inspired screws with a hexagonal shape. www.coblens.com

Quantum spectacles have an outstanding spherical hinge design and light construction in 3D printed polyamide. The innovative choice of subtle and bright colours is one of many highlights of the Danish brand’s eyewear expertise. www.orgreenoptics.com / Photography by Nina-Maria Glahé for Hall of Frames: https://www.ninamariaglahe.com/All rights reserved.

The next edition of Hall of Frames will take place on 13th and 14th September 2020. For more details, visit www.hallofframes.ch CN

Creative energies are running particularly high at theo this year, in preparation for 2020. SILMO saw an ingenious spread of collections, among them a fresh collaborative series – the third of its kind for theo – with designer Matali Crasset. ‘Dialogues’ explores conversation and chat, with focus on the two eyewear basics – the lens and whatever goes around it; how the two interact together or relate beyond the classic ‘glasses’ form becomes a feature and a “talking point” – without constraint in the construction or the technical finesse (of course!). Above: Model Debate, in fluo pink, by theo X Matali Crasset

Expressive, comfortable, surprisingly easy to wear. The result is six titanium styles with Crasset’s “signature” which bring a unique focus to the eyes of the wearer. Single colours emphasise the drama of the openwork and “floating effects”, exploring a bold vision, in theo style – with exquisite tones of fluo pink and orange through to sophisticated monochrome black or white – the two colours that Crasset wears herself.

Dialogues by theo X Matali Crasset was launched in Paris in September 2019; the frames will shortly become available in theo opticians worldwide. The collaborators have simultaneously launched ‘Blurred’, an even more ‘rebellious’ limited edition related to the Dialogues designs and created solely in black and white.

Matali Crasset is an industrial designer from France.  She has become known for a refusal of pure shape in her work and develops new typologies articulated around principles such as modularity, appropriation, and flexibility. She has worked on far-reaching projects in different disciplines and with leading brands including Alessi, Nodus and Le Buisson. For more information visit www.theo.be / www.matalicrasset.com CN