Neil Handley’s night at the museum boosts the profile of eyewear

College of Optometrists Museum curator Neil Handley was recently invited to the Museum of Applied and Contemporary Arts in Vienna to introduce the opening of a new exhibit detailing the work of eyewear designer Robert La Roche.

In the speech, Handley (pictured with Robert La Roche, centre, and ic! berlin founder Ralph Anderl, right) highlighted the rarity of eyewear exhibitions when compared to showcases of work from designers in other branches of fashion or technology and reflected on the public’s attitude to wearing spectacles across the historical ages.

‘There are several specialist optical museums in the world, from Amsterdam to Shanghai, some located at eyewear factories, others attached to educational organisations, but outside of those specialist museums a retrospective exhibition about an eyewear designer is a rarity,’ he told Optician after his trip.