Opti’s mid-January dates have long posed a problem for eyewear producers. Spring and autumn trade shows, Mido and Silmo are still the go-to dates for brands and manufacturers to have collections ready to show. January is still just that little bit too early for many to have new collections ready.
Although Opti’s standing in the global optical exhibition sector has increased dramatically in recent years, few present brand new collections. Instead, small teaser models and recolours of popular styles tends to be the order of the day.
That could well change in future, as Opti’s stature continues to grow, but it does present something of a problem with trend coverage. Silmo was dominated by technical frames and that particular trend very much continued at Opti. Mixed media and complex structures could be found on almost every stand in the Yes and Hot! design areas.
Post-Silmo, I very bravely and possibly foolishly, claimed that a bog standard acetate or metal frame would not cut it when up against this new breed of eyewear. Metal frames would have to be produced using new technical possibilities and acetate would need to be luxurious and different from the norm.
Acetate frames from Dutch brand Suzy Glam are that little bit different. From a design perspective, there is no gender crossover – women’s frames are overtly feminine and men’s models masculine and bold.
Suzy Glam Disrobes
But it is the design method that really sets it apart. In a world where things are constantly conceived in CAD, Suzy Glam frames begin life as a blank plate of acetate.
‘Technology must support the design process, but must not be a goal in itself. New technical developments for eyewear designs are interesting for the designer, but often unnecessary for the wearer and the optician. The focus of this collection lies in the three-dimensionality of the design and the aesthetics of the frame as an object,’ says co-founder Etienne Frederick.
Forms are crafted by hand using visual imagination and each style will be tailored around the look while on the face, adjusted and then refitted. It is an intensive way of doing things, but the results are well worth the effort.
Frederick’s girlfriend and brand co-founder Susanne Klemm, is a Swiss jewellery designer and like her partner, a former optician. This allows the pair to design around the needs of the patient as well as the optician, something which Frederick says is often picked up on by the brand’s trade customers.
Although Suzy Glam recognises the history of eyewear, the brand wants to go beyond retro and create collections suitable for a new generation of eyewear lovers.
Faceting plays a major role in the aesthetic of the frames, as does rounded bevelling. Frames like the Disrobes are designed to emphasise the best parts of the face, with the lower portion of its feminine oval shape slashed, which allows patients’ cheek structures to come to the fore. Men’s pilot style Has Been Upgraded also uses rounded bevelling to bring a new sense of design to the iconic shape. Thicker volume of acetate on the upper nose-bridge bar is a homage to the classic mixed material nose-bridges of yesteryear.
An old hand
With an eyewear design CV that includes stints at JF Rey, L’Amy and Marchon, French designer Pierre Cariven has the credentials and knowledge to produce his acetate and metal frames with a certain je ne sais quoi.
Pierre Eyewear PMC 11601, top, and PMC 21611
During a 10-year stay in the US, Cariven worked on developing collections for brands such as Nina Ricci, Lacoste and Nike. Upon returning to France, his work with French design eyewear brands renewed his own creative and entrepreneurial spirit.
Just over 10 years ago, Cariven set about creating Pierre Eyewear. It was to be an outlet for his ideas and innovation. ‘Above all, eyewear should be an object of beauty. Above and beyond being a fashion accessory, it can be a work of art. An ergonomic and comfortable object, naturally, but also one that is a pleasure to look at, to possess and of course, to wear,’ he says.
Pierre Eyewear Bandapart 4x4
Little by little, Cariven built his customer base and feedback was very positive, which is handy, because Cariven is a person that sticks to his guns, with his flair for the quirky remaining firmly at the heart of the company.
‘There is very little true innovation in optics anymore. The industry is too focused on business and not design. I don’t want to be one of these people who produces a P3 shape and calls it new, because it isn’t,’ he says.
Pierre Eyewear Francis
Acetate models come in three different thicknesses; 5mm, 6mm and a hefty 8mm. It is this thickest plate that Cariven the most freedom to experiment with lamination and colour. Frames like the Francis show the brand’s deftness for design, with a masculine leftfield silhouettes with contrasting hues, while models like Bandapart 4x4 represent the quirky side of Cariven’s imagination.
However, it is up to the PMC-11601 and PMC-21601 to convey the innovative side of Pierre Eyewear. From head on, these metal frames might not look particularly special, although both the men’s and women’s styles are sleek, elegant looking shapes. Move the frame, though, and you will begin to see the construction and design. What looked to be a full rim now reveals itself to be a supra, with the lower portion of the eye wire sitting behind the lens. This piece, connected to the horizontally mounted sheet metal, also serves as the nose pad wire, which, thanks to elasticity within the metal, is extremely comfortable. The top brow of the frame assumes a deep appearance when viewed from above, as do the temples and hinge.
Rimless reinvented
Until Opti, there was very little in the realm of rimless frames that set my pulse racing. The technical design of rimless frames and the sense of adventure and experimentation you see in the forms coming out of skilled edging labs are remarkable, but still, the concept just did not click for me.
When I found out that Swiss manufacturer, Gotti, was releasing a rimless collection, I did wonder if I had fallen for a piece of fake news.
Gotti Perspective frame and component parts
The Gotti Perspective collection is very much real, and when you think about it, makes perfect sense as luxury rimless is an underserved category. Yes, you can pick up jewel encrusted rimless temples in exotic metals and even wood or horn, but these options are enough to put the fear of god into ophthalmic labs or in-house glazing sites.
Gotti says Perspective is made up of the world’s most advance rimless frames; a bold claim but one that has merit. The product of nine years of research and development, the frames feature a patented lens, temple and nose pad mounting system that does away completely with screws, glue or soldering. The company has been busy in recent months producing its first collection made using additive manufacturing. In tandem, it has also been producing mounting parts for the new collection is the same polyamide material. This allows the construction to be both light and display inherent strength.
Several shapes and size of lens are available, but like all rimless designs, the forms can be experimented with. Colour of the stainless steel temples can also be changed to match or contrast with the hinge pieces.
Colour printer
3D printed frames used to have enough cool factor to wow people with their very existence. As more brands have moved into the additive manufacturing sector of the market, this has diminished slightly and standing has become a lot harder.
Thankfully, there are plenty of designers out there looking to push the boundaries of the production method and use its unique structural possibilities.
Danish designer Carlotta’s Village has not only pushed the boundaries of structure, but of the material too. Frst Prnt is said to be world’s first 3D printed titanium one-piece frame. Yes, we have seen 3D titanium frames before, but one-piece is indeed unique.
Carlotta’s Village Frst Prnt
The brand was founded in 2009 by Danish designer Charlotte Leth and her husband Bo, an experienced eyewear agent for different brands in the Scandinavian market. After many years attending optical trade shows, their pair grew fond of high quality acetate frames and decided to ride the wave of popularity the material was seeing by creating their own brand. In the beginning the focus was on high quality, colourful acetate frames in large sizes, but a technical background and Leth’s self-confessed nerd tendencies saw a move to metal frames and more recently, into 3D printing, thanks to five years of using the technique to produce prototypes.
The goal was to produce a frame with the look and volume of acetate, but with the low weight afforded by titanium.
For those not au fait with the additive manufacturing process, frames are printed using fine titanium grains as fine as baking powder. The machine uses a laser beam to sinter its way through a stack of the powder, melting each of the thousands of layers together to end up with a full frame.
The brand wanted to achieve the overall soft profile of acetate with a raw industrial metal finish, which is evident in the coarse texture of the frame’s external surfaces. To create the one-piece design, temples needed a vertebrae-like structure built-in, which provide just the right amount of pressure on the head.
Colouring 3D printed objects can be a tricky task, so the addition of new colours for Frst Prnt at Opti was an impressive feat. Spray painting is fine for certain objects, but will not be suitable for items that are handled and worn next to the skin. Most 3D printed frames are dyed, which produces a harder wearing finish. The dye process is not easy, and embedding the dye deep within the frame so chips and scratches do not show the white base colour is labour intensive. This is especially true of titanium powders that have been 3D printed, but blue and bronze options have been added. The customisability of 3D printing has also been exploited, with customers able to specify frames in tailored sizes and with special milling to allow the placement of precious stones.