Urban style

While his contemporaries are experimenting with acetates and metallics, Scott Urban is creating frames out of more unusual materials. For the Chicago-based spectacle maker, old vinyl records and exotic woods are his source of inspiration.

Urban has been carving wooden frames for just over three years, and more recently has learned to fashion frames out of old records. With no formal training in carving or sculpture – except for watching his mother carve Christmas figurines – Urban’s talent springs from a passion for working with his hands. The first pair of frames he carved were for himself – he mimicked a pair of his father’s old 1960s frames. ‘I like making things for myself – whatever they are – I like to give them a personal touch,’ he says.