Bas and Mirjam van Hensbergen – brother and sister – are the inspiring design duo behind the children’s collection Red Optical. “We work together, and we are good friends,” exclaims Mirjam. The Netherlands based team has been making fun, safe and fine quality designs for youngsters since 2008. “Red Optical Kids Eyewear was created because Bas and I sensed a lack of fashionable eyewear for kids at that time,” says Mirjam, “and we started designing and producing children’s frames purely by making what we like to see on kid’s faces.”
Bas adds: “Number One rule when designing frames in general is that fitting and measurements must be perfect. Next to that, we pay a lot of attention to the designs and colours for kids, and the quality of the materials. We use Mazzuchelli acetate in our frames. When you design children’s eyewear, you also have to remember kids can be rough, and will handle the frame with less care. So some designs are not that suitable for kids, like a nylor or rimless frame.”
Another important aspect of children’s eyewear is fashion and colour. “Nowadays, eyewear for kids is fashionable, and it is easier for parents to get their child to wear frames,” says Mirjam, “and children tend to go for bright, happy colours, like red, blue and pink. We also have basic colours in our collection – black, grey, Havana and Tortoiseshell. There is a tendency for those more mature colours, and we hear from opticians that parents like the ‘mature’ colours the most. Red Optical Kids Eyewear is sold globally, and we are delighted to have a very good and steady international business.” www.redoptical.com JG
