A splendid interpretation of original style in eyewear, Drop Drop Drop by Cleto Munari Eyewear launched in Paris in September and was presented at Punto Ottica Humaneyes at an event attended by the designer in Italy in November. The collection explores the consistency of cellulose acetate: using bi-layer plates, Munari creates a contrast between the hard-edged and the very soft to the point of making it seem liquid. Above: Drop Drop Drop is a striking and colourful collection in fine acetate
“The technical challenge involves the achievement of sharp-edged surfaces alongside surfaces that are so smoothed and rounded as to apparently give the acetate the characteristics of a highly deformable material,” Cleto Munari’s design team explains. “The spectrum between sharp-edged and very soft is manifested in the chromatic contrasts: once again, colour is fundamental in Cleto Munari’s composition.”
www.cletomunarieyewear.com
Optiker am Dom, Mainz
Optiker am Dom is a newly refitted store in Mainz, Germany – with an impressive interior, designed to feel modern and welcoming
Stunning interior details at Optiker am Dom
In 2024, the store has been refitted and redesigned for the second time. “We worked with Möbel und Raum from the Odenwald. (https://moebelundraum.de/). “We very much wanted the cozy feeling of our store to be retained, and to make sure it was a welcoming place to come into; it’s also ideal to invite people to stay a while, so we created a proper area for serving coffee right in the entrance, and integrated a fridge full of wine – which makes it possible to drink a good, cozy glass of wine at the weekend. A sofa was designed in the shop window, each shop window was framed in warm oak.” Interesting materials and fabrics create a particular style in the store. “The contrasting surfaces include thick corduroy, warm stone and matt wood. All these things contribute to the pleasant living-room feeling that you experience as soon as you enter. The right decoration and the smell of delicious coffee do the rest!”
Optiker am Dom specialises in independent labels which currently include Andy Wolf, HUG, Coblens, Ahlem, Lazare Studio and many more. They choose to work with eyewear designers who take care about their materials and design language and are passionate about the subject of glasses. Quality is always a key factor: “We want to maintain quality at a time when more and more chain stores are setting up shop in cities. “In terms of the work we do, I suppose it’s not just about having a feel for the right glasses, but also about understanding the character of the person. We will find you a favourite pair of glasses through our passion, enthusiasm and honest approach. A precise high-quality eye examination and high-quality service also for the lenses are a matter of course for us”.
Asked about their goals going forward for 2025, Angela and David Dürlich continue to focus on quality and their professional service: “We are always aiming to maintain our high level of quality and customer care, and to continue to give our customers professional advice. Our goal is not to retain as many customers as possible, but to accompany and be there for our customers over a long period of time. If they recommend us because they are satisfied with the advice and the products, the comfort and the atmosphere we provide, then all the better!”
Optiker am Dom, Liebfrauenplatz 10, 55116 Mainz, Germany – www.optikeramdom.de
Book review: Vintage Eyewear Style: 1920s – 1990s
A new book published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd. goes on sale on 28th November 2024 – the book is a comprehensive visual survey of currently available vintage eyewear dating from the 1920s to the 1990s by Takano Fujii
The new elegant paperback, which is presented as a compendium of fine and rare vintage designs, describes the selected pieces, period by period. The author interviewed vintage-eyeglass shop staff and owners in Japan and online, and eventually selected 131 vintage and valuable frames from the stores. Each one has been photographed and presented at full size – making it possible to appreciate the smallest details; with the exception of just a handful, these special pieces can be seen in person and even purchased via the stores.
The Introduction presents the focus of the selection: “Every frame is one of a kind and has a certain aura about it, and the historical fact that they were made from 25 years to a century ago is tantalizing. In an age when it is easy to buy reasonably good-quality eyewear, choosing a vintage piece for your very own “special” look is a decadent pleasure….”
Highlights we enjoyed seeing close to included the Madison model from American Optical, dating back to the 1920s and featuring a 10k white-gold filled ‘near-square’ octagon shape and impressive engraving. Among vintage icons such as Silhouette’s FUTURA and Oliver Goldsmith’s Koko, the selection also includes early Oliver Peoples’ and LINDBERG frames and a Jean-Paul Gaultier 1990s masterpiece inspired by the Eiffel Tower.
The author has written a brief history of eyewear for the introduction as well as including an informative summary about frame parts, materials and the most common vintage eyewear shapes. A commentary about the production of of glasses in Fukui Prefecture, Japan also makes very interesting reading.
Fujii sourced the frames featured in the book via prestigious eyewear stores which include Solakzade, Globe Specs and blinc (Japan) and www.vintageframescompany.com and others online.
About the author: Author Takano Fujii comes into contact with more than 1,000 pairs of glasses a year and writes articles on eyewear and related factories, and product introductions in Japan and abroad.
To purchase Vintage Eyewear Style, from 28th November, visit https://a.co/d/6hjpMKo / and/or
Vidal Erkohen, eyewear designer + founder of RVS
Vidal Erkohen is the founder of RVS Eyewear, as well as working as an eyewear designer behind multiple independent brands. His most recently launched collection is a sports eyewear line for Perfect Game, the world’s largest baseball scouting organization. In 2025, Erkohen plans to bring RVS back into the eyewear spotlight with a brand new collection….
It’s a long time since we caught up here on Eyestylist.com. Do you continue to evolve the RVS by V collection from your base in New York City? It truly has and it’s great to be back. Eyestylist has continued to be a leader in the industry and we are all lucky to have such an informative outlet for independent and main stream eyewear. Thank you!
Although I have been very busy with designing, manufacturing and providing creative direction for multiple brands through out the years RVS has always been at the core of everything I do. Since 2020, I decided to pause on new designs and have only been supplying a handful of our classics directly to our loyal consumers worldwide.
That being said, I’m happy to finally break the silence and inform you that RVS by V will be back in full swing starting in 2025 with a fresh new vibrant collection and will also be available for wholesale purchase worldwide via a select few of our most loyal partners through out the years. If you followed us before I’m sure you know that whatever is coming, it definitely will not be boring! 😎 Above: Vidal Erkohen – pictured wearing “See a clean future” Water sunglasses in collaboration with Mission Blue (Sylvia Earle)
The last few years have seen some developments in the industry as regards sustainability. How have you pivoted in this direction?
Could you explain the See A Clear Future concept and RVS SUSTAIN. What is your view on eyewear materials and how they are evolving? The developments prior and since have been tremendous and it’s a breath of fresh air to see more and more designers and manufacturers moving their materials and production towards more eco-friendly solutions.
I think this is just the beginning and we will continue to see very clever solutions that minimize our carbon foot print in everything we create. As RVS, we learned a lot through our “See a clean future” project and aim to incorporate this in all of our future projects as well.
See A Clean Future incorporates four different lens options which correspond to the elements that make up our world: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. They tell a story of ECO-HOPE by linking each concept with a hero from our time: Sylvia Earle (Water), Jane Goodall (Earth), Wangari Maathai (Air), and E. O. Wilson (Fire). Each of the aforementioned have provided inspirational words that correspond to the assigned element, which are inscribed on both the inside of the sunglass frames and the lens cloths. Using natural materials.
The frames are produced in innovative materials from the renowned Italian Mazzucchelli company using their M49 bio-plastic, which is eco-friendly, recyclable, and biodegradable. The bioplastic is produced from cotton linters and wood fibers, which are purified into a pulp and then transformed into a resin known as M49.
All the metal inlays as well as temple hinges are made of stainless steel—a recyclable product. The steel is coated with ion plating, which protects the surface and allows the engraving of the frames. Ion plating is a physical vapor deposition process that uses concurrent or periodic bombardment of the substrate with aluminum, which is recyclable and non-toxic to the environment.
The sunglass lenses revert to the traditional use of glass. Typically, lenses are made from polycarbonate plastic but See A Clean Future lenses are made from natural mineral glass produced in Japan. Glass lenses are not only more environmentally sustainable, but also ensure precision clarity and a more refined aesthetic, which is harder to achieve with traditional plastic lenses.
3. We noticed you are working with the artist Ugo Rondinone for your packaging. How did this collaboration come about? Yes, this was a truly amazing experience as Ugo was a friend of the art initiative “One, all, every” that we partnered up with for this project.
Using natural materials, Rondinone designed the packaging, the ether, or fifth element that contains all others (air, water, earth & fire).
When we launched the project at Art Basel Switzerland as well as later in Miami, our booth was made of 15 feet tall walls covered in real soil taken from his native town in Switzerland.
These walls were later cut in to 10 x 10 individual pieces and sold as limited edition artworks along with all 4 sunglasses all signed by Ugo with a portion of the proceeds given to each respective environmentalist organization.
It was a real labour of love and an unforgettable experience working with such tremendous minds.
4. Do you continue to work as a Creative Director for other eyewear brands and what is your favourite project of 2024?
Yes, and to be honest this has taken a big chunk of my time for the last few years hence my absence from RVS. It’s been a treat to work with other creatives while sharing my experience in the industry and building new brands from the ground up. My latest project, Perfect Game Eyewear is a brand new field for me (sports eyewear) which has been extremely exciting.
Perfect Game is the world’s largest baseball scouting organization holding over 5000 events nationwide year long while working closely with the MLB.
To date, more then 2034 players that have played in perfect game events have also played in Major League Baseball. Since 2003, 14,466 perfect game alumni have been selected in the MLB first year amateur player draft.
Following PG’s exclusive deal with Oakley coming to an end we were able to secure a 10 year licensing deal with Perfect Game via our licensing company PROformance Eyewear and will be designing, distributing and manufacturing all PG Eyewear sunglasses moving forward.
Our proprietary “Diamond lens technology” which I created after almost 2 years of research and development is the first of its kind to focus solely on the game of baseball to enhance game play for both pitchers and batters alike. This is just the beginning as we are planning a huge expansion for this brand in terms of technology, design and reach.
5. What are you working on for 2025? Along with the relaunch of RVS which I am most excited for, I am currently also working on a new brand (also my own) which although I can not give to much information about will bring a fresh new concept to the industry. I always like to go the exact opposite direction of where everyone else is going. This will be no different.
6. Are you still a passionate collector of vintage eyewear and do you have a favourite design which you acquired recently. Do you still study vintage eyewear as part of your inspiration?
My passion for vintage eyewear is really what got me started in the industry and restoring vintage frames is how I got to know the ins and the outs of eyewear production itself. I still spend at least an hour of my day doing research on frames of the past with my expertise now focusing on materials that are seldomly used such as genuine tortoiseshell, solid gold, unusual hinge technologies and more! I’m a sucker for nostalgia and manufacturing of the past still hold a big space in my design inspiration. Of course, I’m still a Persol fanatic as at one time I owned one of the largest private Persol (Ratti) collections in the world. It’s the only brand my father used to wear and it always holds a sweet spot in my heart.Good design never goes out of style.
Find out more at www.rvseyewear.com / read more at https://www.eyestylist.com/2013/06/vidal-erkohen-rvs-by-v/
Trends: burgundy and bordeaux tones in eyewear
Burgundy pieces are trending in fashion this month, ahead of the festive period – the hue (and many iterations of it!) has also made its way into the eyewear collections this season with success, given its flattering warm overtones that are enlivening for skin tones in the colder, winter months – Pantone has already identified the colour “Windsor wine” as a key tone into 2025
The trending deeper shades of burgundy and bordeaux are a dream for the autumn/winter season in eyewear, a complement for winter apparel and the darkest shades of brown and black, cold weather staples that can feel drab without a dash of brightness or intense deep hues. From full-bodied wine tones of bordeaux and burgundy to a dark berry infused palette with a hint of deep rouge and pink for gradients, these deep delicious colours are attractive and flattering, and commonly associated with this moment in the season evoking elegance and natural good taste. Above: complementary tones of burgundy and amber feature in the two-tone ophthalmic model Intagli 151, from the Lamarca eyewear collection, www.lamarcaeyewear.com
Model Totes from l.a.Eyeworks perfectly expresses the wine-inspired colour direction with this elegant ‘Malbec’ colour way, informed by the purple grape variety used in making red wine. This frame combines a chunky acetate front and sleek stainless steel temples and comes in other striking colours such as Nebula and Yam – www.laeyeworks.com
The new collection at Bayria Eyewear – inspired by Bauhaus – features Tres Moles, a striking, irregular “wavy” silhouette in Italian acetate, which comes in several elegant colours including the gradient bordeaux to light crystal featured above. www.bayriaeyewear.com
The Stratos is by the French artisan label, Struktur and features in their Equilibrio collection. The wine berry tone shows how this colour palette can work easily for men as well as for women. The acetate is polished and meticulously carved to create the subtle bevels, creating a luminous dimension around the frame, enhancing the hue with refinement and natural style. www.struktur-eyewear.fr
At Kaleos, a series of frames have been produced in deep tones of bordeaux including sunglass styles. For the woman’s optical frame, model Cotton, the brownish bordeaux front pictured above is matched with a translucent pink acetate for temples. www.kaleoscollection.com
{rewind} proposes a mottled effect with burgundy and pink flecks – in this handmade design with eye-catching bevelled edges. While on trend, these colours will remain timeless and perfectly in tune with wintery moments of the year. See more colours at www.rewindeyewear.com