“Sublimating through difference”
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of her eponymous label, a new book is launched following the unique and fascinating journey of Fabienne Delvigne, Belgian entrepreneur and milliner. The book recounts the designer’s story and many commissions for members of the royal families of Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands, professional women, or men “with a sense of style”.
“All my clients have in common a love of beauty,” says Delvigne, whose extraordinary designs are produced according to superior traditional craftsmanship in the Maison’s Brussels boudoir workshop. The creativity and modernity with which they are carefully brought to life mean that they always remain a source of surprise.
The book itself – with outstanding forwards by Diane von Fürstenberg and Stéphane Bern, tells of the designer’s many bespoke commissions and one-off projects for Royalty. It also explains more unexpected work that Delvigne has accomplished outside millinery, including a stand design for the Biennale Interieur in Kortrijk for the Carrières du Hainaut©, the largest producer of limestone in Europe. For further details about the new book which is published by Marot S.A. Bruxelles in November 2019 (for £59.99 euros) visit the e shop at www.fabiennedelvigne.be/eshop/sublimer-par-la-difference/?lang=en. For more information on the designer visit www.fabiennedelvigne.be CN
Fairplay by Lafont Paris – Reedition
The Reedition collection by Lafont Paris has special significance this year as the historic Parisian eyewear company celebrates 40 years of artistic eyewear, design and colour. Since 1923, when Louis Lafont opened the first Lafont boutique in the French capital, Lafont Paris has produced classically chic eyewear designs conceived with artistic flair and passion for heritage, achievable through a combination of state-of-the-art manufacturing and traditional French craftsmanship.
Over the years the Reedition collection has highlighted some of the quintessentially iconic designs of each decade at Lafont. Fairplay, a new addition launched last month, is a reminder of the company’s expertise in metal, where classical design meets advanced technical precision and modern detailing.
A refined finish at LAFONT PARIS
A narrow metal structure with a square eyeshape, the frame expresses the meticulous refinement of the Lafont finish with a distinguished upper rim shaping and narrow temples integrating a small hinge mechanism with absolute precision.
Today Lafont Paris produces frames in acetate, stainless steel and titanium and is well-known for its expertise in fabric inlays and advanced applications in materials which include carbon fibre. Find more designs at www.lafontparis.com CN
Trends: black beauties
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
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.
Exclusive: Lien Atelier jewellery chains
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
Eyewear directions: Hall of Frames
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