Tom Davies, the British eyewear designer, has designed the glasses for the characters Cruella (played by Emma Stone) and The Baroness (played by Emma Thompson) in Disney's forthcoming Cruella, an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinema's most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil.
What began as a small project for Davies ended up with him making glasses for almost the entire cast of the film, which launches simultaneously in theatres and on Disney+ with Premier Access for a one-time additional fee on 28 May 2021.
Cruella, set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows Estella (Stone), a young grifter with a flair for fashion who catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman (Thompson), a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute.
But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable, and revenge-bent Cruella.
Davies was initially called in to create frames for just the Baroness.
But, while researching the period, he noticed almost everyone at that time (pre-contact lenses and laser surgery) was wearing glasses. Working closely with Jenny Beavan, the film's multiple Academy Award-winning costume designer, Davies was asked to provide glasses for nearly every cast member – a total of 120 frames.
Multiple pairs were created for Stone to help track her metamorphosis from Estella to Cruella.
Davies' factory is based in London, just 30 minutes from Shepperton Studios where Cruella was filmed.
Although bespoke frames usually take up to four weeks to make, the tight deadlines resulted in Davies handmaking frames personally and delivering them just hours after the fittings.
To ensure the 1970s-style reproductions were perfect, Davies created an old-fashioned acetate press to handmake the raw materials – a technique which proved so successful it is now a permanent part of his eyewear design process.
To coincide with the film's release this May, Tom Davies will promote the collaboration in select retail stores worldwide and with bespoke content reflecting the placement featured in the film across his social platforms.
