Eyespace
British eyewear company Eyespace launched more than 200 new styles during the event in London across its entire range of brands with a strong focus on sustainability. Nicky Clement, head of marketing at Eyespace, told Optician: ‘As a company, we’re pushing as hard as we can for everything to be sustainable. We want sustainable to become the norm. People are specifically coming to us and asking about sustainability because they want to invest in sustainable products. It’ll become the norm and we want to be ahead of the curve. If you’re specifically looking for sustainable, there’s something for you whether you’re a Cocoa Mint or Basebox wearer.’
Among the launches were new models from Range Rover Eyewear, which Eyespace worked with to incorporate the architecture of the vehicles into the design of the frame. Masculine optical styles have a premium feel and minimalist design with Japanese beta-titanium and Mazzucchelli acetate used.
Framed
Italian luxury eyewear brand Portrait made its debut at 100% Optical, having been brought to the UK by Framed Eyewear and showcased alongside models by British brand Booth & Bruce and Slovenian company Laibach & York.
Portrait frames are made by combining traditional craftmanship techniques with high-technology manufacturing with each style taking inspiration from the world of art.
Strong colours and bold acetate models were the main features of the spring-summer 2022 Booth & Bruce collection, including the hexagonal Madagascar and bright pink Candlyfloss (below) models.
Peter Sunderland, director of Framed, told Optician: ‘We got bored of thin, spindly wire frames and have leant towards chunkier styles in clear, translucent plastics. We’ve got frames with a matte finish on the side to make it opaque but the plastic itself shines the light.’
Manufactured entirely in Slovenia, Laibach & York’s Capital collection includes bold shapes and colours, with a touch of premium provided through embedded 24-carat gold flakes.
William Morris
British brand William Morris showcased spring-summer 2022 styles, which focused on pastel colours, as well as reintroducing its William Morris Gallery collection.
‘Men are looking for chunkier frames and ladies are being daring too. Our thread is to be conservatively different, we are different but variable. That’s the big thing in the UK, people are being more adventurous but not too extreme,’ Robert Morris, founder of William Morris told Optician.
The company also offered the chance for independent optical practices to put their branding on William Morris eyewear. Morris explained that a big challenge for an independent that wants their own range is the quantity of stock that needs to be purchased. ‘We’re offering the design to an independent in a town and they will only have to buy one of each and we’ll brand it for them. We’re taking the stock risk and they’re not,’ he said.
Millmead
Cameo Sustain was launched by Millmead at 100% Optical, which was described by the company as a striking range that shows how sustainability and fashion can coalesce beautifully.
David Young, marketing consultant at Millmead, told Optician: ‘One of our new ranges is Cameo Sustain, which is made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Water bottles are chipped, melted down and made into frames and cases.’
Also on display was Millmead’s homage to Winston Churchill’s iconic spectacles. The company’s CEO bought the original pair at auction and took all the measurements to create their own version, of which 100 limited edition models have been made to celebrate the centenary of Churchill buying Chartwell House.
‘They are the same specification with elongated temples to sit far forward on the nose. On Churchill’s pairs, one had one dot and the other had two dots on them to help him differentiate between his reading glasses and his speech glasses so he could feel which was which,’ Young said.
Safilo
Eyewear giant Safilo showcased spring-summer 2022 collections across its portfolio of licensed brands, such as Boss Eyewear and Carolina Herrera.
Among the men’s Boss launches, were sunglasses and spectacles made from a 100% eco-friendly, biodegradable and recyclable acetate with bio-based lenses made with at least 40% bio-based raw materials.
Sunglass model 1364 featured a metal trim visible through the acetate that bears a Responsible tag as well as Boss branding. Colour options included grey-brown with green lenses, blue Havana with brown lenses, black with grey lenses and Havana with blue lenses.
A range of shapes, including squared models, butterfly and cat’s eyes, have been designed by Carolina Hererra Eyewear with a classic yet contemporary idea of femininity in mind.
Pearls have been embellished on the front, sides and tips of bold acetate styles and slim, lightweight metal sunglass and optical models, including CH002.
Götti Switzerland
Two new titanium styles from Swiss producer Götti play with volume to great effect. The Dalton and Dagley are reinterpretations of the panto shape, with the latter taking on slightly larger and useful dimensions of 53-20. The styles are thinly cut, with a svelte look from the front, but a profile view shows extra depth to the lens rims.
Both models are unisex, which is reflected in the range of colours that includes masculine gun metal and black, and feminine pastel pistachio and pink.
Ridgway Optical
Banbury-based supplier Ridgway Optical used the event to show off new styles in the Kliik Denmark collections, which the company distributes for Westgroupe in the UK. The Kliik Denmark brand caters for men and women who require a narrow fit.
As alluded to in the name of the brand, frames are inspired by the modern aesthetic of Scandinavian design and include styles across metal and acetate materials. Women’s frame K-717 (right) is a rounded off cat’s eye shape in patterned hues with subtle details like the metal caps at the join between temple and lug. The F-719 is a masculine rectangular shape constructed from stainless steel. It features laser cut grooves on the lugs and temples, along with colour blocked temples.
F-719 masculine frame
Good Karma Eyewear
Making its debut at 100% Optical was Good Karma Eyewear, a brand created especially for women. It’s founders, Lisa Laurent and Julie Bridgwater are eyewear industry stalwarts, but the brand is their first foray into running their own brand. Using their experience in the sector and with full control over the direction of the brand, Laurent and Bridgwater set about building a collection that catered to women of all ages, ethnicities and sizes.
Colour is at the heart of the collection, with bright hues and punchy combinations and textures. Beth (left) is a perfect example of this, with a bold aqua blue base colour mixed with flecks of orange and purple. Its gentle cat’s eye shape is easy to wear on several different face shapes and the 52 eye size means proportions are generous. The Rebecca style (below) takes the classical panto shape and gives it a new lease of life with a mottled black, white and grey colour scheme.
To help the Prince’s Trust deliver its Women Supporting Women initiative, the brand also donates £1 from every frame sold to help raise funds to support young women back into education, employment or training after being impacted by the pandemic.
