David Rose at SALT. Optics launches 2017 with a tantalising collection of refined, superbly crafted eyewear. Nature’s magnificent colourations prevail on timeless shapes for men and women. Tiffany unites tortoiseshell with a fresh spring green. Quality acetate – slim and sleek – assures a design with pure, uncluttered lines. www.saltoptics.com. JG
Exhilaration! Freedom! Mountain magic! The ski season is a delightful moment to embrace the great outdoors, and enjoy the pleasure of winter sports – from skiing to snowboarding. For comfort and safety, select snow goggles that provide high quality eye protection – as well as super style.
Choices abound with dashing goggle designs that perform brilliantly in a variety of conditions. Bollé has a winner with Y6 (action shot top; close up above) that features photochromic Modulator lenses. For prescription glass wearers, Bollé has a special adaptor insert for their range of goggles. www.bolle.com
Glow in the snow with Götti Switzerland’s colourful goggle. Characteristics of the sleek goggles include an anti-fog system, superb ventilation, plus they are light, durable and comfortable. Crafted from polycarbonate, the goggles feature mirrored lenses in great colours – orange flash (above) and blue flash with a black band. www.gotti.ch
Orgreen’s Tamok goggles – named after Norway’s Tamok Valley, an adventure lover’s paradise near the Artic Circle – fuse functionality with minimalism. Technical advantages include construction in Thermoplastic Polyurethane, and lenses with 100% UV protection. Chic for après-ski too! www.orgreen optics.com
adidas Sport Eyewear have released new ski goggles with cutting edge design, and top notch technology. Progressor S is equipped with a larger spherical double-lens that offers enhanced peripheral vision. Fabulous colours too, that include yellow (above), plus Progressor Blue and Pink, and Backland Silver. More info at www.adidas.com JG
A tribute to one of the most influential thinkers of the western world, Sigmund by neubau eyewear is a new interpretation of the classical round shape, currently enjoying a significant revival. Inspired by the iconic glasses worn by Sigmund Freud, this version by the young Austrian brand takes a high-tech approach, using a polymer that is super flexible and lightweight. The overall effect is modern and focused on comfort, with temples that are adjustable. The choice of fresh contemporary colours brings a strong character to the design. Bright evergreen (trendsetting this season), sweet honey and clear crystal are among the choices for those seeking a bold new eyewear update for 2017. www.neubau-eyewear.com CN
Shortlisted designs announced
London’s optical fair 100% has announced the shortlisted designs in its annual design competition in collaboration with the RCA. The finalists are: Tabitha Ringwood (1st Year Womenswear – Footwear); Annie Foo (1st Year Womenswear – Footwear); Hazel Stark (2nd Year Textiles – Print); Louis Alderson-Bythell (2nd Year Womenswear – Footwear); Alice Potts (1st Year Womenswear – Footwear) and Becky Hong (1st Year Millinery).
Visionary 2017 is an eyewear design project directed by Accessories, Footwear & Millinery tutor Flora McLean in collaboration with 100% Optical, to highlight new talent and creativity in the field of eyewear design. This year, the competition asked students to consider the wearer and their activities and lifestyle, by designing one piece for a specific person and specific usage. Above: Project name: My Tribe – by Becky Hong
In its fourth year, the competition is judged by a panel of eyewear experts from the British eyewear industry including Jason Kirk (of Kirk & Kirk), Tom Broughton (Cubitts) and Lawrence Jenkin (renowned eyewear designer). The RCA finalists’ prototypes will be on display at 100% Optical in February when the winner will also be announced. For more information visit www.100percentoptical.com CN
Barcelona is a centre of modern creativity, with a contemporary art, food, design and music scene that has become internationally renowned for its imaginative and consistently avant-garde direction. The appearance of a new young eyewear brand coming into the market at a high level of quality and innovation is therefore unsurprising, but nonetheless makes for an exciting entry given the level of research and design precision interwoven in a product that is functional, light, and technically precise. Startup Lool Eyewear is located in a warehouse studio just behind MACBA and the large open space which hums with skateboarders. Following a single trade fair (Silmo 2016), the label, created by talented product designer Aris Rubio and entrepreneur Alex Carrasco, is already looking at increasing the size of its workshop to accommodate fast-paced international demand since the Paris show. The frames have seen immediate popularity in Barcelona, stocked by leading optical retailers such as Les Lunettes, Bassol and DM Optics.
“Lool is a multidisciplinary studio”, Alex told Eyestylist when we visited the label earlier this month. “We manufacture in series from metal sheets of steel (11R51). They are worked by hand, one by one in a precise technical process, combining the industrial and manual, man and machine.”
Influenced by retrofuturism in the context of disciplines such as architecture and urbanism, Lool has already launched three specific sheet metal stainless steel collections, and a patented screwless hinge – The Hub – which features across their ranges and offers maximum durability and easy assembly. The frames themselves are built with an architectural precision where, for example, material is removed on the inside of the frame, reducing weight and changing the look and general feel when worn. Rubio’s methodology is to study the points of tension around the front of the frame and take away what is not required from the inside, creating excellent lightness and flexibility in the metal material.
Lool’s three impressive collections – Tectonic, Stereotomic and The Grid, offer a strong starting point for a young team and their position in central Barcelona, where other likeminded designers are working in innovative collaborations, is likely to inspire further success as innovators of the future. Lool Eyewear will show at Opti Munich in January 2017. More information at www.looleyewear.com CN