Floral Street practice hopes business will bloom with Mikli and Starck

The S2 Eyewear practice on Covent Garden's Floral Street is hosting a month-long show of the latest Alain Mikli and Philippe Starck eyewear collections.

Some 300 frame and sunglass designs are on display, as part of the practice's plan to create awareness by promoting an eyewear collection each month.

'Mikli is a great product, the build quality is great - it's the Rolls Royce of frames,' said optometrist Marla Saggu (left).
Speaking about the event, Mikli's Kay Bradshaw (right) said: 'People have to be passionate about the product to take it on like this. It gives customers more of an idea about the brand and the range of colour options. It will be interesting to see how it goes.'

She added that quality and comfort were paramount with Mikli, with the frames manufactured to avoid the pressure points around the ears, giving immediate comfort.

People were moving away from rimless to acetates and Mikli was strong with acetates, said Bradshaw. 'Starck doesn't evolve as quickly, but we have added more colours to the range, such as greens and blues.'

The Starck and Mikli sunglasses are now fitted with Zeiss lenses. 'We always have quality lenses. They make a lot of difference,' said Bradshaw.
'There's a really big Alain Mikli sunglass collection this year. Previously we didn't have a large line, but there is a market for it with people who don't want a name on the side.'

S2 Eyewear was set up in May 2005 on the corner of Floral Street, along from Paul Smith.

'I had been locuming since 1993 and didn't want to do the 20-minute eye test conveyer belt. I make a point of explaining what's being done in an eye examination and it takes about 40 minutes,' added Saggu.

The paperless practice uses Topcon consulting room equipment with the Optisoft practice management system. A video dispensing display adds to the high-tech image.

The architect-designed store is fitted out with heavy American walnut worksurfaces and an eye-catching feature is a row of wooden display cubes in the main window. The units have tubular lit centres, adapted for the purpose by a set designer. 'I wanted something really tactile and clean. Rather than a window full of frames, we wanted to show that the eyewear is really special,' said Saggu.

The mood of the practice can be changed as the display tubes are lined with hand-made paper that can be replaced with another colour.
A red perspex frame display gives another colour feature to the practice, with the drawers of the units below matching the paintwork of the walls.

There was considerable spend on lighting. 'I insisted on the effect of daylight. With bad lighting, lots of people say that frames aren't the same colour outside and downlighters can be very glary and don't show the frames properly. We wanted to create an atmosphere of daylight,' added Saggu.