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The family-owned company has a customer in NASA, but the space-age screwless and hingeless eyewear still owes much to human intervention, with a total of 80 people involved in each frame's manufacture. Each model goes through 180 work phases and 140 manipulations, some of which are hidden from the prying eyes of those touring the plant.
Silhouette was formed in 1964 by husband and wife team Arnold and Anneliese Schmied who wanted to produce frames integrating fashion under a name that would be recognisable worldwide. Now 84, Schmied senior is still a regular at the headquarters, where today's rimless eyewear seems light years away from the early acetate models. One design on display is the collectible Futura sunglass from the mid 1970s which had a starring role in the Emmanuelle film.
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