Silmo Paris welcomes innovative eyewear

This year’s Silmo Paris show took place across the last weekend of September in glorious French sunshine that would have put a smile on even the grumpiest of opticians’ faces.

A total of 965 exhibitors representing 1,548 brands appeared, with 230 exhibitors making their debut. Just over three quarters of the exhibitors were international and 23% were from France. More than 37,000 visitors attended the four-day show, with 56% of this figure coming from overseas.

New trends for men, women and children in the upcoming 2019 seasons were displayed in a showcase gallery near to the Silmo Next interactive space in hall six. Multicoloured frames were aplenty and four major frame styles emerged in octagonal, square, egg and cat-eye shapes. Rounded frame shapes were frequently seen, a nostalgic nod to the very first eyewear style. Clean lines were also highlighted, where thick or thin frames fit well on the face without too many embellishments, and metal was the dominant material.

Silmo Next

The show included a new display titled Futurology, which included the products and processes of tomorrow for the optical industry. Futurology promoted products and start-ups in four major themes: sports, well-being and health, entertainment and additive manufacturing. Sport eyewear by Garmin, Every Sight and Artificial Reality (AR) glasses with Micro-OLED were featured, as well as Hola by Light Vision, which can assist those with age-related macular degeneration and the latest model of Spectacles by Snapchat.

There were also two educational sections by museums located in the valleys of Oyonnax and Morez in eastern France. The exhibition by the Musée du Peigne et de la Plasturgie (Combs and Plastics) presented a range of fashion accessories from hair ornaments to spectacles all made from plastic, and the Musée de la lunette in Morez’s exhibit told a brief version of the history of eyewear from the pince-nez, to contemporary glasses and ski masks. The two valleys joined forces in the exhibition to present visitors with haute couture frames featuring rhinestones and studs, as well as showcasing six emblematic dresses by fashion designer Paco Rabanne.

Exhibitors

One new exhibitor this year was Luguète, a year-old brand co-founded by Quentin Stubbe. The company has only produced a handful of ophthalmic and sunglass models so far, all of which have been made solely in France. Stubbe said: ‘They are all made from acetate and the nose pads are blue in colour, which is our signature. We also include a quote in French on one of the temples, which is usually about hedonism and inspired by the French art of living.’

The Manca frame by Luguète

The brand has followed a trend of elegance within its collection. ‘We’ve focused on classic and vintage styles with subtle touches,’ Stubbe said. The company is currently looking for an exclusive partner to become available across Europe.

Baggia sunglasses by Luguète

Nadine Dalal, owner of sunglass brand Delalle, appeared at this year’s show for the second time. Her sunglasses have been featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Tatler, and have also been seen on French model Cindy Bruna.

‘I’m very much inspired by architecture, people and music,’ Dalal said. ‘I start my ideas from a small concept, then find the right materials for the frames. The idea goes on a journey to be fabricated and then eventually reaching the wearer.’

Dalal regularly went to fashion shows but found that there was not a huge amount of focus on eyewear. A regular attendee of Silmo Paris and Mido in Milan, she decided that Paris was the place to go to in order to display her designs, all of which are limited editions. Only 100 frames in three colours are released of each style and they are all handmade from acetate and metal in Japan.

Dalal received a lot of interest from visitors to the show due to the different shapes of her frames. One of the frames that she had on display for visitors is called DeLune and is described by her as a ‘modern twist on a cat-eye style, with details on the rims.’ Another has been named Jam, an 80s inspired square metal frame with python leather on the top of the rim. She also has a festival inspired and heavily embellished hexagonal frame due to be released next year.

Jam frame by Delalle

British brand Campbell Marson, founded by Alan Fox, also exhibited at Silmo Paris for the first time. The company’s wooden frames sparked interest in visitors due to the unusual patterns. Finished with a strong lacquer to avoid cracks during the glazing process, Fox wanted the frames to be different from other rougher ones. ‘We started to get more interest from opticians after we prevented the frames from cracking,’ he said. ‘People seem to really like the varying and often unique grain patterns seen in the wood. The grain is what it is, you can’t really plan too much what it’s going to look like as a finished product.’

The DeLune frame in matte black

Wood used to make the frames include Santos rosewood, walnut burl, purple heart burr and other woods from African or South American countries.

Campbell Marson’s frames are finished with a strong lacquer

The production process involves the frames cut out by a CNC machine and then sanded down several times until the finish is smooth. Some of the sunglasses have a lined or chequered design, which is produced by the two different coloured wood veneers being pressed together to create the pattern. The company offers a box to store eyewear in, which can be made to match the type of wood used to make the optical or sunglasses and frames.

Campbell Marson provides wooden boxes for its frames

Years and years

At Silmo, Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses presented its collection called Decades. It is made up of 10 acetate frames that feature a likeness to the iconic styles and trends seen during that decade, but with a contemporary spin.

The 30s frame by Oliver Goldsmith

The company said that the collection was its ‘view of the past 90 years and forward thinking for the journey ahead to complete the last decade before it celebrates its 100th anniversary.’

Oliver Goldsmith’s OOs sunglasses

The 1930s frame is rounded with large paddle temples typical of the period, where sunglasses had just been made capable of absorbing both ultraviolet and infrared light and became cool to wear. The 1990s frame however is known by the company as the Cat-Farer, due to it being a mix of cat-eye and wayfarer, both popular frame shapes during the decade that looked back for style inspiration.

The Centena collection by Kirk & Kirk

Kirk & Kirk also displayed an anniversary collection for its 25th appearance at the show. Centena celebrates the brand’s 100 years of business and features 10 different acrylic frame shapes in 10 colours, all constructed from 10mm thick plates. Models include Sidney, which is round and Marilyn, a contemporary take on the cat-eye style often worn by Marilyn Monroe, in colours such as crimson, corn, iris and tiger.

Eden Kirk, son of current owners Jason and Karen, said: ‘People have definitely been drawn to this handmade in France collection, in particular the jade green and blue shades. We’ve had a really positive response so far, everyone’s been excited. This is always a big and important event for the company as we sell a lot of frames in France.’

Silmo d’or 2018 winners