Eyestylist

Ciro Tugnoli, Blue Magic Eye, Italy

21st February 2012 “There are definitely differences between designing eyewear for men and for women. Guya (my design partner) and I have always found it easier to create glasses for women, but I cannot forget that our best-selling model is a pair of glasses with a more masculine connotation. It’s not easy to design an original and outgoing shape for a man. I find more elements to work with when I think of a female style. Men are now more aware of fashion, brands and quality, including fitness or beauty products. In general, men are more attentive to their own global image, presentation or look – although I think men are less brand addicted than women.

Vintage has permeated fashion in all its aspects. Vintage, dandy, the beautiful and the damned, or Steve McQueen styles have always been sources of great inspiration in men’s styles. Traditional colours are still popular for men – black, brown, honey, Havana, but on the temples you can dare a little more with orange, red, blue and yellow. We’ve had success using double layer acetate – soft colour outside and fluorescent or bright inside. My favourite men’s designer is Paul Smith, but I’m quite conservative in clothing.” www.bluemagiceye.com  JG

Photo of Ciro Tugnoli: Gilles Stüssi

Brent Zerger, Communications Director, l.a. Eyeworks

Los Angeles, California

20th February 2012 Are men more daring with colour now than in previous years? “Without a doubt. And just in case it’s still a secret: men are starving for colour! Particularly in the case of clothing, we have all been cast adrift in a sombre sea of brown, khaki and grey for soooo long. It’s always a challenge to find colour that truly excites. No surprise, then, that men are seizing upon glasses as a key component for exploring the potential not only of colour, but of pattern and proportion too.

Have you seen any specific changes in how men view wearing glasses during the past several years? “Absolutely. Glasses are out of the closet! More and more, I see men discovering eyewear as a way to project their sensibility and define a mood. There seems to be a renewed embrace of eyewear as a key aspect of wardrobing, and as a vital stamp of personality. Our clients often report on how the colour and graphic impression of their glasses have effected changes in what they wear, and how they see themselves. Barbara McReynolds (co-owner/co-designer of l.a. Eyeworks) has often said: ‘Glasses are the fashion. Clothes are the accessory”. In short, free your glasses and the rest will follow”.

Whom do you think are the male style icons nowadays? “To be honest, I hardly ever think of icons in the present. What interests me most is when any person – regardless of their fame, occupation or income – creates a style or signature completely their own; when a person achieves a kind of effortlessness and comfort in the transformation of their look”.

Who are your personal designer favourites for men’s clothing? “I always pay attention to what ‘the majors’ (Paul Smith, Christopher Bailey, Marc Jacobs, Rei Kawakubo, Kris van Assche, et al.) are thinking, but in my own selection, I veer towards smaller brands and more enigmatic items – like the amazing shoe designs of John Fluevog. I probably take most of the direction of what I want to wear from the world around me, be it a Japanese vinyl figure, a Technicolour film from the 50’s, some paste-up graffiti on an electrial box, or some obscure track I might hear late at night. In any case, the most compelling style is tuned from the inside out.” www.laeyeworks.com  www.laeyeworks-wideworld.com JG

Anne et Valentin

16th February 2012 From Anne et Valentin’s lifestyle photo series, we present model Freelance (sunglasses above), a contemporary classic for men, and the very expressive optical frame Pop, worn by customers of the French designers outside their Paris store at 4 rue Saint Croix de la Bretonnerie. A tip for those visiting the Anne et Valentin store in Paris, just across the road is a perfect breakfast bakery, where you can have coffee and fresh patisserie…the staff in the shop will point it out as they say they are often popping over there. www.anneetvalentin.com CN

 

 

Shane Baum – Leisure Society, California

15th February 2012 “Indeed – there are significant differences between designing eyewear for men and for women. To design women’s frames, you need to explore your most feminine side. You need to think lighter, more delicate, and more “jewellery like”. As far as fashion goes, women take more chances and thus are more open minded. This is a great freedom in the mind of a designer. I think with the emergence of ‘heritage brands’, that tout a traditional Americana look, men are more apt to pay less attention to brands, and place a greater importance on quality and integrity. Of course, given the fact that I design a gold plated titanium, limited production, exclusively distributed product, I’m somewhat biased.

Men are as interested in vintage as women, if not more so. Many men truly enjoy the history of old brands – where it was made, how many were made…..It’s the same reason we collect baseball cards as kids and later as adults, vintage cars. Men appreciate the craftsmanship employed in making objects of great quality.  Not that women don’t – it’s just men are more apt to ‘geek out’ on such stuff. Men are really not daring with colour, unless you call blond tor (more…)