Eyestylist

Anna-Karin Karlsson ‘for a life less ordinary’

29th April 2020

Haute couture eyewear with an avant-garde design

Putting a maximalist style at the heart of her work, eyewear designer Anna-Karin Karlsson has created a world of eyewear apart from the everyday. Decoration such as carved flowers, exotic wildlife and fantastical bugs and ‘claws’ have featured as embellishments for fronts, temples and bridges in works that highlight extravagant materials (24k gold, white gold and titanium) and immaculate execution.

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This season, the collection unfolds with new dramatic sun entries, ‘Shady Luv’ and ‘Too Handsome’ defined by sophisticated forms with minute engraving work and jewellery settings. In 100% Japanese titanium, Shady Luv is hand-set with Swarovski crystals. Each colorway is available in just 100 limited edition pieces. The style is a reminder of the oversized mask shapes of the 00s with single visor lens. Above: Shady Luv, pictured in white gold with Zeiss mirrored lens.

Style “Too Handsome” combines Japanese acetate and titanium with attention to metal detailing and the engraving of AKK lettering. Another Limited edition entry, each colour of this design is produced in less than 50 pieces.

Anna-Karin Karlsson eyewear is available in luxury retail outlets around the world and online at https://annakarinkarlsson.com/shop/sunglasses/

Design + Inspiration

Aviators: a directional design style

27th April 2020

Aviator sunglasses continue to earn their iconic status. They lift and compliment most outfits with extraordinary versatility, a style staple through seasons and activities, from beach to business. The original teardrop silhouette is adaptable for many face shapes – just as much for women as men; it’s recommended if you have an oval, heart or square shaped face, but for the most part, with so many versions and sizes, there’s one for us all.

Independent eyewear labels are exploring the lightweight qualities of the design whilst make subtle changes to aesthetic details, eye shapes, lens colours or technical features to bring the styles a new-found directional elegance.

Above: Berlin-based designer Veronika Wildgruber’s new collection is inspired by geometry, the future and architecture. The Kent frame in the Interspace collection explores a completely new shaping of the lower section of the double bridge. Photo by @kerstinzupan. For more details about designer Veronika Wildgruger visit www.eyewear.veronikawildgruber.com

LINDBERG 8209: modern minimal lines + traditional teardrop lens shape

The LINDBERG 8209 is part of the Air Titanium line with full-rim made entirely of ultralight titanium wire. The frame is vintage inspired and timeless yet fully on trend with a choice of colourful Zeiss sun lenses, ranging from traditional to bold and bright. www.LINDBERG.com

Delon by Gotti Switzerland – an ophthalmic shape, adapted from the classic aviator

Gotti Switzerland’s new entries for Summer include the very finely structured model Delon, a large shape for men, with a slightly angled rim below the top bridge line. The minimal design is achievable through the expert application of ultralight Japanese titanium. www.gotti.ch

Design + Inspiration

Oversized sunglasses

22nd April 2020

We have a soft spot for oversized sunglasses, particularly the round ones and the styles that Jackie O’ made her own. The shape is here again – of course it is! – worn in a variety of ways, by all ages, with quirky individuality or classic poise, a celebration of timelessness and characterful ‘iconic’ style. Above: huge round, idiosyncratic and ageless – vintage-infused sunglasses with pale lenses – shielding the face while the eyes are still visible. Photo by Gennaro D’Elia (Paris Fashion Week) exclusively for Eyestylist.com

For a dazzling Jackie O’ design: Oliver Goldsmith: The 1960s – 001

From Oliver Goldsmith’s wonderful series of iconic designs (there are several Jackie O’ styles here, depending on your face shape), the bold 001 is produced in classic acetate materials in perfectly chic colorations which include black leopard, military white or black powder (above). The frame, which is ideal for an average width face, is available to purchase online at www.olivergoldsmith.com

Jackie-inspired: Christian Roth’s glamorous ‘Jackie 60’ – UV protection + classic styling

For a statement tortoise model, Christian Roth revives the look in the graceful model Jackie 60, one of a line of distinctive designs in the iconic collection, combining the styling so popular with the former first lady and the exacting contemporary finish of a technically robust Japanese made frame. Find out more at https://christianroth.com

Creative spirits

Conversations in lockdown: James Van Vossel

21st April 2020

Thinking differently is what puts James Van Vossel apart in the field of eyewear. His work with Belgian label theo began in 2010, and has continued to flourish, alongside an ever expanding portfolio of innovative design products through very different disciplines. Most recently his work has included ‘Hollow’ for Modular Lighting Instruments (www.supermodular.com) and through the current lockdown – when not looking after the kids, he is working on ceramics, lighting concepts and tableware, from a studio style space in his workspace connected to his home.

Hollow by Modular Lighting Instruments: winner of an iF Design Award in 2020

From the theo collaboration, Van Vossel tells me how his work with eyewear continues to grow – always approaching the object “from a different angle”. He refers to one of the most distinctive enduring frames in his repertoire so far – James 6 (launched in 2012), a design which has an integrated ‘folded’ section which forms the nose piece of the design. From the front, the frame appears to have a missing piece. It’s a style that lives on in the theo collections, a reminder of the possibilities of bucking the trend, exploring alternatives, with an experimental ‘hands on’ process using moulds, modelling from life, far removed from what is more normal in eyewear production.

James 6 – first launched in 2012 by theo, worn by Wim, and still an eye-catcher in the collection

In Outlines, the line launched in 2018, James developed a concept based on prototypes crafted to scale – a mode of working that he prefers across disciplines where no predetermined outcome has been laid down. He produced a number of frame design studies in prototypes, giving a sense of the design and material and allowing him to see what works and what doesn’t.

Outlines for theo Sketch – © 2018 copyright protected Artworks,
Photography & Graphic Design!

“In the outline collection the radical and revolutionary step of starting with the shape of the lens was taken, allowing it to determine the further design of the glasses by extending the existing vocabulary of the lenses and allows them to continue into the frame”, he explains.

Outlines for theo Assembly – black and fluo pink

“In a natural way, the frame is then shaped and moulded around it as an outline, as a shadow image around the essence – the glass; thus creating an original tension between the frame and the shadow image.”

Current colorations in the Outlines collection at theo include signature brights, in combinations of black/fluo pink or the more demure black on black.

For more details about all James Van Vossel’s design work visit www.jamesvanvossel.com

For the eyewear collections, visit www.theo.be

Reviews

Accessory love: Diffuser Tokyo – Japan

20th April 2020

The Japanese brand continues to lead the way in the production of stylish leather glasses accessories and related design pieces

Japanese accessories experts – Diffuser Tokyo – add to their collections for the coming season with new leather cases and cords for men. The Diffuser range now includes two-tone stitched leather cords which come in khaki and yellow, orange with bronze and red with dark brown with carefully finished metal details with a ‘tarnished’ like vintage effect.

High-quality hand-finished ccessories from Japan: Diffuser Tokyo

The brand has also introduced a natural leather book mark, and the Horween leather eyewear case inspired by traditional natural leather spectacles cases with an envelope style lid, fastened with a popper. Diffuser Tokyo is now stocked worldwide in luxury optical boutiques. Find their products at high level optical stores and concept stores including Bromptons Opticians (UK), Lunettes Selection (Berlin), and Selima Optique SOHO (NYC). To purchase online visit https://diffuser-tokyo.com

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