Eyestylist

French nostalgia at Morel: 1880

6th May 2022

Pince-nez design Arsene – 60122M and the panto Valentin – 60144M – icons from Morel – recreated for the here and now

A line engaged with heritage and history, Morel’s 1880 collection remains a very striking focal point in a portfolio of brands that continues to evolve. The 1880 collection has become a reference for reinterpretations of classic designs for modern times, among them a panto called Valentin, which is newly released and offers a timeless look. Details of this elegant frame include a keyhole bridge, narrow metal temples and a matt or translucent acetate front. A double metal pin on either side of the front harks back to the traditional style of this design. (Above: model Valentin in classic colours)

The iconic pince-nez – Arsene – is based on an early design with a semi-rimless underwire. The frames, which were released in three shapes, and feature stainless steel wire temples, are immediately recgnisable for the letter M on the rims and are also distinguishable by a decorative engraving all around the rim, described as refinement “pushed to its peak”, using the emblematic Morel ‘tenon n°3’. The frame comes in gold or silver and also boasts end tips and nose pads in thermotube material for added comfort.

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Pince Nez – Morel – a redesign of a classic Morel frame, built to be comfortable and stylish – for the 21st century

Asked to expand on the draw of French design and production in modern times, Amelie Morel told Eyestylist: “As part of its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach, but also faithful to its history and values, Maison Morel has invested in its site in Morbier for the production of acetate glasses. Since 1880, Morel has perpetuated the family tradition. Driven by the same entrepreneurial passion and more than ever, with respect for the environment, the company based in the Haut Jura dedicates its know-how to the creation and marketing of iconic glasses around the world.” Find out more at www.morel-france.com

City guides

Opti Munich: the May edition 2022

4th May 2022

The show in Munich takes place from 13th to 15th May 2022

opti 2022 looks forward to welcoming visitors and a host of exhibitors to their event in May, the first opti show to take place since January 2020 following the lengthy Covid disruptions. The fair will take place at its traditional venue – Messe Munich and promises a complete panorama of the whole of the optical industry, with areas for lens and contact lens companies, low vision, shop fitting and technology – as well as for eyewear in a variety of categories.

The 2022 edition will feature a “mixture of new and well-established elements” in the four-hall concept that visitors are used to. Halls C1 and C2 will contain the frame collections of licensed brands and manufacturer brands, the YES independent design area and the opti BOXES will present exciting start-ups and small independent labels. Hall C3 will feature a further choice of licensed brands and manufacturer brands in the frame area, as well as all other types of product for the optical stores. In Hall C4, focus will be on spectacle lenses, contact lenses and accessories, refraction and diagnostics, as well as IT and machinery.

Opti is always supportive of eyewear start-ups and new labels and this year, it will host a dozen young designers via the opti BOXES initiative. The labels will compete in the first opti BOX AWARDS, the criteria for which is design, sustainability, functionality, technology and marketing. Among those taking part is LEINZ Eyewear from Berlin – https://leinzeyewear.de. The awards ceremony for this event will take place live on site on Saturday 14th May at 12.30 pm in Hall C2 in the opti BOXES area. / Above: JF Rey from Marseille, France will return to opti for the May edition with their labels, JF Rey, BOZ and Volte Face – their stand is located in HALL C2.

Rolf Spectacles’ award-winning eyewear: evolved collection

Rolf Spectacles will exhibit a bold new collection with many distinctive elements: brand new frames for kids, the very first texture in the 3D printed plant-based line substance mount, and a refined handcrafted wood collection where different colours and textures are combined with an inventive, and totally unique style of design. www.rolf-spectacles.com

Rigards’ award-winning RG1911AG .925 Sterling Silver – edition with Royal Selangor

Rigards’ collection this year is bursting with innovation in materials and structures and their dazzling design works, all made by hand should not be missed at opti. The brand is a leading innovator in reinventing the traditional craft of handmade spectacle making with completely new ideas about material possibilities, architectural aesthetics and avantgarde shapes. www.rigards.com

Acetate style Claudius by Ørgreen Optics

Ørgreen Optics is a highlight at the opti fair each year, and for 2022 comes highly recommended for anyone who seeks a look at a diverse portfolio of Danish design collections in polyamide, stainless steel, titanium and acetate. Their expertise in colour thanks to resident colorist Sahra Lysell, remains a real highlight across these quality collections. www.orgreenoptics.com

LEINZ Eyewear will show in the opti BOXES – the frames “combine the old and the new”

Beate Leinz of LEINZ Eyewear combines state-of-the-art 3D printed material and acetate in her designs, which allows for a completely fresh aesthetic based on the subject of “contrasts and hybrids”. To read more about Beate Leinz visit our interview at https://www.eyestylist.com/2021/11/beate-leinz-my-brand-is-me/

Weareannu – panto design for 2022 – one of our favourite German labels

A particular highlight at opti will be the vast selection of smaller creative independent brands like Weareannu, producers of very light 3d-printed frames that prioritise maximum comfort with a minimalist feel. Find out more at https://weareannu.com

Opti takes place on Friday 13th May to Sunday 15th May 2022 at the Munich Messe (trade only). There are no longer any access restrictions following the pandemic and masks are not required but are highly recommended. To find out more details visit www.opti.de Eyestylist will have more tips and recommendations to share on opti in the coming days.

City guides

100% Optical (UK)

2nd May 2022

A lively “coming together”: for the optical community / independent eyewear segment represented by brands from Europe and the USA

100% Optical – the British optical fair which took place over three days in April (23^rd to 25^th) following a postponement from its usual slot in early Spring – has confirmed the 2022 event recorded excellent attendance following the Covid pandemic – at the ExCeL London site in East London.

Alongside education seminars, special presentations and initiatives such as its famous catwalk event and the Love Eyewear Awards – the event also offered a much needed first chance for colleagues and customers to reconnect and meet with industry colleagues.

A further highlight at 100% Optical this year – and one of the fair’s most unique and well presented opportunities for visitors with an interest in innovation and design was the chance to view work submitted for the 100% x RCA Eyewear Design Competition, held in collaboration with students at the Royal College of Art (RCA).

Above: Gotti Switzerland’s new campaign, a feature on the Swiss brand’s stand at 100%. Gotti’s success with lines like the Dimension and Perspective collections in the UK owes much to its careful fusion of technical excellence, lightweight comfort and contemporary, versatile styling

Fly by Sea2see – the ‘seastainable’ eyewear brand returned to 100% in 2022

This year the students were asked to follow the theme ‘reflecting on the past to help us look at each other now and help us see into the future’. The competition was won by Maria Nava for her work “Spectral Objects”.

Thor by Kirk and Kirk: the frame won “men’s frame of the year” in the ‘Love Awards’

Representing the independents of eyewear design were creators and labels from far and wide who presented their new collections at the show. Among them were European and American designers including innovators like Gotti Switzerland, TAVAT, and Lafont Paris;

Morel 30277L: the French eyewear company showed its new collections in London

sustainable eyewear brands like Sea2see and Bird and much loved creators who have an international following including Kirk and Kirk, Erker’s 1879, Struktur, Any Di, l.a.Eyeworks, Ørgreen Optics and Morel. The next edition of 100% Optical will take place on 25 to 27 February 2023. Find out more at www.100percentoptical.com

Design + Inspiration

HOET ‘3D printed’ Costume edition expands

1st May 2022

Mido review: a relentless pursuit of innovation with sustainable goals

The HOET Costume collection is said to “remain true to its values” as it launches four new models for the Spring/Summer season. Committed to sustainable vales, the production of HOET frames is on a made to order basis, ensuring that designs are only created in line with demand. By selecting 3D printable materials, this collection supports a more sustainable business model – with the aim of putting a stop to overproduction and unsalable stock.
For the design, in combination with a refined titanium element and a structure that refers to naturally woven materials, the new HOET frames stand out like many of their predecessors, unobtrusive, yet striking in their own way.

Above: U1 is part of the existing Costume collection at HOET – the frame is typical of the line and features a 3d laser printed polyamide frame in black with front in mat or shiny titanium – below, the video presents the very latest editions in the collection, which are characterised by bold architectural titanium structures with the intricate woven effect on the upper rims

“An eyewear frame for personalities with a conscious attitude toward life
who do not want to compromise on aesthetics and comfort…” HOET

HOET has achieved a unique reputation for innovation in eyewear design through an extraordinary 30 years’ history. This new release marks a new chapter in 3D printed design work. For more information visit www.hoet-design.com and www.hoet.be CN

Creative spirits

Veronika Wildgruber

30th April 2022

Multitalented designer Veronika Wildgruber began her career in eyewear alongside the celebrated Alain Mikli in Paris. After that, the young creative went on to win a Silmo D’Or with no less than her first ever frame design. Twelve years later, with commissions by brands including Hermès under her belt, Eyestylist catches up with the now established and highly regarded director and founder of her namesake eyewear label.

Tell us about your early life, and the journey you have taken in order to get to where you are today? I studied industrial design in Bolzano, Northern Italy. I think when I applied, my first intention was to be a graphic designer. I had liked my classes in industrial design and communication design and actually right up to the first half of the year, I realized that I really wanted to do product design and create objects. So, I graduated in industrial design and my plan was to become a furniture designer or a household object / interior designer. Then, I started to work in Paris doing an internship with a designer who was working with fashion as well as in product design.

I intended to stay in Paris for four months, and in the end I stayed for years. After the internship I got into working a freelance job which rolled into another freelance job and so forth. Eventually, I began working for an Italian designer who shared his space with an eyewear maker Jacques Durand who was working alongside Mikli at the time. He was a big name in the city – everybody was talking about Mikli. To be honest, I didn’t really know Lee’s glasses because I was not involved with and didn’t have any contact within the industry. I never truly thought about working with him. It was all very new for me. In the moment it was more like an arrangement, sort of like “let’s share the space and maybe my assistant can give you some assistant work as well”. Then, from my perspective, it was solely about a paid job – you know, of course a rarity in the design area. So I said, yes. I think he also believed it was interesting to have somebody who was a designer, but didn’t know anything about his area – something that would make it interesting, and someone he would actually quite like to do some projects with.

He asked me to help on some collections and to design with my own eye. I have to say it wasn’t something I was always yearning to do, but I thought I’d like a bit of a challenge. It wasn’t at all a window into my future career at first, but it was more like, why not try it?

I crafted my first design with cardboard because I didn’t really know how to approach it. So, then we created the prototype frame with a model maker in acetate and presented it at Silmo in 2010 – and it won a Silmo D’Or! It felt like my first real moment after joining the eyewear world. It was a big surprise.

At the time I didn’t have a brand or a name in the industry, so the frame was just a number, without even a title. I think that kind of led me to believe I had a talent for design in this area, and pushed me to start this journey. I thought, if I am going to do it, I’ll do it with my own name – not as a collaboration or in a position working for someone else – but to try it for myself. From then on it was a strange and slow start: four pairs of glasses and two years later another four pairs of glasses and so on. It was never really a launch, you know, or a collection. That’s why I consider my growth into this world really organic; I wasn’t jumping in the deep end, I wanted to keep up my work in furniture design too – I would’ve felt as though I was cheating on my original dream if I had neglected it.

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