Sep 2016

Style-Eyes
Treasure hunting: vintage
eyewear
When I started my blog, I closely followed the
other few glasses blogs in existence. One was a
vintage eyewear blog from Germany. It was then
that I fell in love with my first pair of vintage
frames. Coral-pink and black Cazal 312 from
1980, the same year I was made. I eventually
found a deadstock pair on eBay and snapped
them up at half the price I was expecting.
Wearing vintage eyewear can help you stand
out from the masses in this era where so many
frames look so similar. It’s a great way to find
shapes, colours and styles not currently in stores.
‘Deadstock’ means that the frame was
never sold and is unworn, in the condition
in which it would have been originally
sold, but it was removed from sale
due to being out of date. Sometimes
great collections of frames like this get
unearthed from storage somewhere and
end up for sale.
Who’s hunting?
I have found other vintage enthusiasts, even
more obsessed than I am. Davon Ford runs
online store In Search Of (www.insearchofshop.
com). I first interviewed him several years ago
as he was just starting his collection. He said, “I
started collecting in college after a friend had
given me a pair of vintage Porsche Design 5623
frames.” This collection grew to the point of him
opening In Search Of three years ago. I noticed
him call some frames his ‘grail’ frames which I
liked - very Indiana Jones!
I caught up with him again and asked him
what he was currently hunting. “My current grail
is the Cazal 634 in the Grey Amber colourway,”
he said. “For me a frame achieves grail [status]
when I’ve hunted for it more than a year and I
haven’t been able to find it… they start to feel
damn near impossible to find and it makes you
truly appreciate the frame once you find it.”
Rose from Che Eyewear in Melbourne chooses
to stock deadstock vintage eyewear alongside
new eyewear from the likes of Karen Walker and
Seraphin. She told me how this came about:
“We had a lot of deadstock of our own and
realised that current trends were reflective of
our own deadstock. We went on a little hunt
for more pieces and all of a sudden we had an
extensive range. I love anything vintage, and
therefore it was easy for vintage eyewear to
become a passion.”
Rose’s requirements for stocking vintage
Casanova SC 8
Cazal 254
BY JO EATON
frames are that, “Our vintage pieces must be
new. I don’t deal with anything second hand.
Style is important and quality, of course.”
I bought the 1980s Martin Wells frames
(pictured in the Style-Eyes header) from Rose
two years ago and they are a firm favourite.
If you make the decision to sell deadstock
vintage eyewear alongside the new frames in your
collection, check out eBay and Etsy. They make it
so much easier to find good quality frames.
Current trends
1950s/60s-style Mad Men-inspired thick acetate
frames are no longer the vintage style to hunt.
Nor are the gigantic 1980s-style plastic frames.
There is a fashion school on the same campus
as Optical Dispensing at RMIT, where I study.
I’ve noticed the impeccably-dressed fashion
students are opting to wear 1990s-inspired wire
rim frames. Gold is especially in. Davon agrees,
“When I first started, the outrageous Cazal,
Alpina, and other giant ‘80s frames were all the
rage. Now all these years later smaller frames
with detail are the rage. Like Jean Paul Gaultier,
Cartier and Ralph Lauren.”
I asked Davon if he’d noticed current brands
borrowing from the classics. Without naming
names, he said, “New brands borrow heavily
from the past... I’ve seen older brands just
straight up steal a frame from the past, slightly
change the design and colours, and then just
release it as their own.”
Get inspired
Instagram is a great source of inspiration for
your treasure hunt. I recommend following
Davon @frame_gawd for starters. Others
to follow include @carettavintage, @
forgotteneyewear, @oedipus.spex and @
vintz_shop.
If you’re interested in stocking new frames
with a vintage style twist, rather than
deadstock, Cazal are still making frames that
look just like they always have, as are Linda
Farrow and Cutler & Gross.
Affordable Australian brand Bailey Nelson are
just starting to open stores in New Zealand. (See
story p18). They’ve got a great example of the
wire rim trend in their Harrison frame.
What I love about vintage eyewear is that you
can be almost guaranteed to find something
truly unique. Google Casanova’s Simbolismo
series if you don’t believe me! ▀
* Jo Eaton is an optical dispensing student at RMIT. Originally
from Wellington, Jo became interested in eyewear after
discovering she was myopic at the age of 14. In 2008, many
years after deciding to make unusual glasses her ‘thing’,
she founded eyewear fashion blog ‘Eye Heart Glasses’. When
she’s not immersed in the world of spectacles, she works in
digital marketing, DJs, volunteers for community radio and
is a director of feminist music organisation LISTEN.
Marcolin 7023
Taxi St 1
Photographs by Davon Ford
Ogi release two new
collections
US-based Ogi Eyewear have released
two new collections of optical frames
designed “to inspire”.
Firstly, under their Seraphin banner, is The
Barrymore for women. A feminine, handcrafted
acetate frame available in four colours.
With a vintage flair, including Seraphin’s
trademark fleur-de-lis temple tip emblem,
this collection offers a combination of
elegance and durability under the ‘neoclassical’
design umbrella.
The second release, under the Ogi designer
label, is the 7161 Heritage Collection for men.
Handcrafted from three layers of premium
acetate and polished for a gloss finish, these
frames feature tortoiseshell temples, fastened
to the frame by robust triple-barrel hinges.
There’s silver dual-pin detailing to register a
Frame Fashion
Week launched
Eyewear is getting its own Australasian
Fashion week, Frame Fashion Week,
designed to inspire interest in high
fashion frames. The event, which will
comprise ten experiences, including an
optical and a buying group conference, a
retail window competition and an Eyewear
through the ages expo, will run from 1 – 10
July in Sydney, in the Premier Brands area of
the biennial ODMA Fair.
“Frame Fashion Week have chosen our
event, ODMA 2017, as one of their key
showcase events,” said Finola Carey, chief
executive officer of ODMA.
Carey said she does not feel enthusiasm is
waning for industry events, and was pleased
with the way the market embraced this
year’s O-Show. “The key is to deliver events
in response to demand from our customers.
We are working to make ODMA 2017
what the exhibitors and visitors want – a
weekend of shopping with a bit of fun and
entertainment thrown in for good measure.”
Billed as Australia’s contemporary eyewear
festival, Frame Fashion Week aims to
celebrate the relationship between great
eyewear and high fashion. “There will be
a great deal for visitors from New Zealand
to see and do to ensure that the trip is
worthwhile from a business perspective,”
said Sue Dight from event organiser Touring
Enterprises.
ODMA chair Robert Sparkes said, “We are
thrilled at the development of Frame Fashion
Week. The eyewear industry is projected
to exceed US$165 billion by 2022 and we
can only see this relationship with fashion
growing. Frame Fashion Week is a valuable
addition to the industry visiting Sydney,
ensuring this period in July is a must-attend
for the optical industry.” ▀
The Barrymore for women by Seraphin (Ogi)
The 7161 Heritage for men by Ogi
certain vintage-inspired quality. Designed in a
soft rectangular shape, the 7161 is available in
a range of neutral colour options.
Ogi is distributed by BTP International
Designz in New Zealand. ▀
BLACKFIN – New
launch at Silmo
Blackfin’s new autumn/winter 2016-17
collection will be previewed at Silmo Paris
from 23 to 26 September.
The new designs, a mix of spectacle frames and
sunglasses, showcase rounded shapes and unisex
designs such as the model Saint Martin, featuring
a double-arched bridge with curvaceous lines in
two-tone colouring. With either a natural or satin
titanium finish, this model has high-tech appeal
contrasting with the 1980s inspired shape.
All Blackfin frames are made of titanium and
beta-titanium with Swordfish temple tips, and
are made following the neomadeinitaly precepts,
a new all-Italian production model that cares
not only for the product, but for the people who
produce it.
Blackfin is distributed in New Zealand by Beni
Vision. ▀
Blackfin Saint Martin frame, looks great with sunglasses lenses too
UK optom convicted
of manslaughter
In the first case of
its kind in the UK,
locum optometrist
Honey Rose, 35, has
been convicted of
manslaughter at
Ipswich Crown Court.
Rose, who qualified
as an optometrist
in India and took
additional exams
allowing her to
practice in the UK
in 2010, failed to
identify that the optic
discs at the back of
eight-year-old Vincent
Honey Rose, convicted of
manslaughter
“Vinnie” Barker’s eyes were swollen – a symptom of
undiagnosed hydrocephalus. Barker collapsed and
died five months later.
The routine eye exam took place in 2012, and
although Rose claimed to have had difficulty
examining the boy due to his photophobia, a retinal
photograph taken before the eye exam clearly shows
the swelling, suggesting bilateral papilloedema.
During the trial Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, said
this “would have been obvious to any competent
optometrist” and should have led to an urgent
referral to treat “a life-threatening condition”. He
referred to Rose’s conduct as “criminal”.
Jurors took just over two hours to find Rose guilty
of manslaughter. Sentencing was set for 25 August.
Speaking to the BBC, Detective Superintendent
Tonya Antonis from Suffolk Police said: “If this case
makes the optometry profession reflect on their
practices and review their policies to prevent it
happening to anyone again, or encourages other
parents to take their children to get their eyes tested
with the knowledge that any serious issues would be
picked up, then it will be worthwhile. ▀
26 NEW ZEALAND OPTICS September 2016