Comfortable Materials and Precious Decorations for the 2003 Eyewear collections
Materials
Two passwords sum it up: friendly and comfortable. Friendly means that materials are now expected to respect visual and tactile sensitivities, revive the memory, create a bridge to the world around us. Both acetate and metal are used, often in combination, taken to extremes of thinness or thickness. Textures inspired by nature, like tree bark or bamboo, offering special 'tactile' effects thanks to materials capable of creating contrasts between hot and cold, soft and firm. But that's not all. In an effort to respect facial anatomy as well, points of support, like nose pads and earpieces, are made of softer materials that conform to the shapes they rest on. Non-slip materials, integrated into the frames, thanks to highly sophisticated techniques, and adjustable sidepieces are decidedly wearer-friendly. In some cases, screws and hinges are totally absent. At times a thin strip of metal flanks the acetate, or is built in to reinforce frame structure and make it more flexible. The eyewear project definitely has two things in common with design: comfort and quality. At the top of the list are lightness and flexibility, calling for the creation of new materials, exclusive metal alloys, as well as the use of magnesium and titanium, steel and aluminum, and other precious metals. Biocompatibility is the key: these alloys must be non-allergenic, and inalterable by perspiration. But scientific research has gone a step further, coming up with heat and light-sensitive surfaces that project eyewear into a symbolic dimension. For the practical touch, some styles contain chips in the sidepieces with all the client's data incorporated.
Decorations
Custom-designed is the outstanding trend. Eyewear virtually made to order, where even the wearer's name can be part of the sidepiece. Decoration is almost nonexistent on prescription spectacles, except for the discrete appearance of a few rhinestones to lend luminosity to already precious materials, or enameled lugs and special coloring on the inside of rims. In the luxury niche, decorations with diamonds or other precious and semi-precious stones are done only by special order. Designer signatures and logos have gone underground, if not hidden inside frames, they have become more discrete and refined, sometimes morphing into interesting graphic designs. Or, with precisely the opposite effect, on sunglasses they've grown enormous, with an ironic wink back to the '80s. Then there are the decorations taken from way back in the '30s... flowers, butterflies, hearts, serpents and stars personalize side and frontpieces as well as lenses in a subtle, elegant yet playful and eccentric way. They range from tone on tone to contrasting colors or highlighted with rhinestones. There's a tip of the hat to the world of rock and the '80s, with some cheeky details, as in the rhinestone rehash of the teardrop, or in punk details like piercing. Leather is also back, covering rims, sidepieces and bridges. Other decorative features are taken directly from the fashion world, like top stitching. And where would we be without the use of the laser? It has been used to 'embroier' sidepieces or fronts, when it's not being used to make cut-outs in metal sheet.
