Eyestylist

EYE’DC

11th November 2011 Marseilles based designer Lionel Bellet can always be counted on to create a collection with unique touches. In 2009, the company won a Silmo D’Or (an industry accolade) for their innovative  eyewear concepts. The newest collection features “Slide” (above) that allows the customer to select two or three different acetate colours; mix them to ‘slide’ into place, et voilà,  very distinctive frames. Ebony and champagne merge into these neat little shapes, and express retro harmony. Eye’DC designs are available at Les Createurs D’Opta in Paris, and Arthur Morrice Opticians in Knightsbridge, London. www.eye-dc.com  www.idc-lunettes.com JG

Katharina Plattner – Andy Wolf

10th November 2011 The next stop on our Austrian designer tour is to chat with Katharina Plattner, designer and managing partner at Andy Wolf. Although the brand is only five years old, it has captured international markets. Vintage heroes and heroines often inspire the timeless designs – including Betty Boop. Everything is handmade in the Styria region of Austria, located in the southeast section of the country, with a history that dates back to Roman times.

“Nowadays, it is difficult to find people to create handmade frames,” observes Plattner, “but is it important to have knowledge of old handcrafts, or else everything will be lost if you don’t learn from the old. The new collection is inspired by criminal novels from Agatha Christie – the sunglasses have names like Miss Marple or Colombo. This is because I grew up with these old films – my granny loved them.”

Plattner is adamant about quality, and every frame goes through a rigorous handcrafting and time consuming process. “I think it’s very important to give time to the finishing processes – we give the frames seven days – it’s usually three – and you can feel the difference.”

For the future, Plattner would like to experiment with materials. “I’d like to work with French lace for frames, and I think every type of cloth would be good, like silk for example.” Andy Wolf followers eagerly await the new Austrian eyewear creations. www.andywolf-eyewear.com JG