Viewpoint: Diary of a Spectacle Designer

This November I’m going to be 20 years old, or rather my brand is. In my world, they are the same thing. Sometimes the lines between being Tom Davies and running House of Tom Davies are a little too blurred for my liking. I was 27 when I decided to launch an eyewear brand in my own name. In fact, I was joking when I first mentioned it to someone. The person thought it sounded good and I decided at that moment to go for it. I’ve been going for it ever since.

For a long time, I was ‘that young designer’ then at some point, people stopped saying that. As the business begins a third decade, I’ve suddenly realised that it is not a start-up anymore. That might sound a bit ridiculous but that’s how it’s felt all these years. When you have Luxottica on the horizon, you always feel a bit like a start-up. Twenty years has gone in a blink of an eye and I still feel like I’m just getting going.