How we choose our frames – with love!
We love colour. We love great design, and we love our clients. And most of all,
we love matching fantastic eyewear to our fantastic clients. So with all this love in
the room, I recently headed to the city of love itself, Paris, to source great
glasses to bring back to our optical styling studio in Ledbury, and to you!
The Paris eyewear show is a hub for spectacle designers
And by that I don’t mean designer specs, which are often mass produced
collections given the name of a licensed brand. I mean true designers - artists
who have chosen to make eyewear design their form of artistic expression.
Each piece has been created by a designer who pours their inspirations, whether
it be the colours of the ocean, or the cherry blossoms of Japan, into their glasses
designs. When you buy one of these frames you’re buying eyewear art!
We love choosing frames for you
You’ve probably noticed that most continentals have super stylish frames, and
you’ve probably wondered why you don’t often see that level of glasses
confidence in the UK. Me too! So I’m on a mission to bring you that same variety
of colour, style and design that you see when you’re in Europe. Going to eyewear
shows in Paris and London allows us to offer a range of eyewear that gives you
greater choice. And that means shapes you might not have tried before, and
more vibrant, but absolutely wearable, colours.
How do we choose?
I’m a Dispensing Optician, but I’m also trained in eyewear styling, so when I was
in Paris I definitely had specific choosing criteria in mind. Top of my list was
finding frames to complement your Colour Type, ranging from cool through to
warm. I also had at the forefront of my mind your style. I chose frames that I’m
confident will express your personality, from Creative to Classic, and everything
in between.
I love meeting the designers.
It was a lot of fun talking to the designers and being immersed in the world of
beautiful, quality eyewear. This year we found a fantastic Scottish designer – yes
we had to go to Paris to find her! Danielle Rattray’s collection is impressive, and
we’ve brought some of those designs back to Ledbury. I particularly love her
petite sunglasses.
We love finding something a little different that you’ll enjoy wearing.
The Paris show is a great place to experience new innovations. This time I
discovered a range made from recycled vinyl records – yes you can literally wear
the music! It’s one for us to think about.
We also found a fabulous Italian designer who uses a new, incredibly light,
recyclable material, allowing you to have large, oversized yet lightweight frames,
and all in fabulous colour combinations.
Sports eyewear can be challenging - the wraparound effect needed for cycling
makes it harder to glaze with prescription lenses, but I found a sports eyewear
brand who are able to provide wraparound prescription lenses even in a shield
design.
Lovely meeting up with old friends
It was great to connect with other opticians and fellow eyewear boutique owners.
And when I say “we”, I mean my very old friend Amanda of McClintocks in
Scotland. We trained as Dispensing Opticians together, and celebrated 40 years
of friendship in Paris. We’re on the same page in that we love what we do, and
we’re passionate about helping our clients find the glasses they love!
So, city of love – thank you, and we’ll be back next year!
