As someone who has been somewhat critical of spin-off events that take place at the same time as large trade shows, I should not really like The Loft, but there is a compelling case for visitors and exhibitors alike.
For eyewear brands, the event offers a cool space with luxury independent peers without the associated costs and restrictions of the Javits Center, where stand basics like tables can cost thousands and unions dictate the work exhibitors are allowed to carry out.
From a visitor perspective, my usual objection to this type of event is the need to travel into a city when the shows are mostly held on the outskirts. The Loft does not have this issue; Hudson Mercantile building is one block away from the Javits Center and is en route to the nearest public transport options. At the time of going to press, you can even see the Javits Center from The Loft, but at the rate buildings get built in New York, this might not be the case for much longer.
The event was started at the turn of the millennium by Bevel co-founder Richard Mewha.
‘Looking back to when we started this event back in 2000 with just a couple of independent brands, our show has evolved into a very special highlight on the international trade calendar,’ he says.
‘As we were growing the event, the independent eyewear movement also grew and, as such, we have been at the forefront of showcasing the most interesting eyewear designers and companies from all across the globe. Our diehard independent retailers and boutique owners look forward to meeting up in our space each year to catch up with their friends and colleagues.’
Eyewear luminaries, such as Mykita, Kirk & Kirk, Anne et Valentine, Blake Kuwahara and Theo, all exhibit at the event, and in recent years have been joined by newer contemporaries, including Andy Wolf, Matsuda, Hapter and Rolf Spectacles.
Pride
The Loft was the venue for the launch of the 2023 pride initiative run by the Eyewear Designers of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (edCFDA). Launched in 2022, the Pride initiative sees five edCFDA designers produce a limited-edition frame to raise money for charity and to highlight specific needs within the broad spectrum of the LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming community.
‘Vision and visibility must walk hand in hand to be freeing,’ said l.a.Eyeworks co-founder and designer Gai Gherardi. ‘The edCFDA Pride Initiative seeks to amplify both ideas in a responsive and emphatic way.’
Last year’s initiative raised $50,000 for the LA LGBT Center and the designers hoped to beat that amount for this year’s recipient, the TransLatin@Coalition, which advocates for the issues and needs of trans people in Latin communities across America.
The designers involved in last year’s project, Blake Kuwahara Eyewear, Christian Roth Eyewear, l.a.Eyeworks and Selima Optique, have been joined by Krewe Eyewear for the 2023 initiative. Accompanying the limited-edition eyewear designs is a dedicated lens cleaning cloth created exclusively for the initiative by New York-based letter artist Pedro Silva.
Optician asked Gherardi if her design process differed for the Pride frame. ‘It did. I had to let go of my own interpretations of what being a gay woman is. I’m not one for convention, so rainbow colour schemes aren’t usually part of my life or indeed the l.a.Eyeworks style, but I had to look beyond that and challenge myself.’
The edCFDA designers confirmed another pride initiative would take place in 2024, and encouraged other like-minded designers and other brands to consider submitting their own Pride frames to bring the initiative to a wider audience.
