DaTE, the international fair for avant-garde eyewear, will take place from Saturday 11th to Monday 13th September in Florence, at the Leopolda station. The event aims to be a strategic meeting opportunity, attracting companies which are known worldwide for their eyewear innovation and design, for their exclusive and selected products. As the ninth edition of DaTE approaches, we have interviewed some of the key players.
In this interview we meet. Cristiano Milone from Mirage, the company that produces the glasses in collaboration with Studio Russo.
Giving the avant-garde form is the essence of DaTE. What form has your brand taken and how does it interpret the avant-garde?
The avant-garde quality of 23° Eyewear is linked to a communicative concept based on the combination of various elements: green thinking, design, patents, materials and production. Everything is conceived with the goal of creating a circular project where people are at the centre.
23 is a perfect number, associated to the imperfection of mankind - it is the number of pairs of human chromosomes, the angle between median axes of the eyes and orbits, the number of degrees of the Earth’s axial tilt, the slanted position of the heart within the rib cage, and the days in a cycle of physical biorhythms.
The very essence of humanity is represented in these frames where contemporary design emerges in experimental avant-gardism imposed by the asymmetry of the ends, echoing the natural equilibrium of our bodies; the metal circular logo that recalls the earth; and the fine line in relief on the front, inspired by our backbones.
True avant-garde quality comes in research to identify the best possible lens for every natural condition. 23° Eyewear launches ‘The Circle of Light’, in other words, a core ingredient of mineral glass adapted to every terrestrial environment: TERRENIAL lenses, ABLYSS lenses, STRATOPHAIR lenses, RED ESSENCE lenses, BLACKCOSMO lenses and, finally, the lenses for exploring nature at night, ILLUME.
So, it’s not purely aesthetic avant-gardism. it’s also about the essence, which links mankind to our planet in an infinite natural cycle.
The materials are a key element of unique and original collections which do not neglect sustainability. Which ones have you chosen for the DaTE 2021 collections?
Nowadays, it’s not enough to think simply about sustainability - it’s also about circularity. And this underlies the entire philosophy of 23° Eyewear. Our frames are made in Neucleus, a biomaterial specifically created in partnership with our Swiss supplier, and the circularity of the manufacturing process - undoubtedly among the most innovative and sustainable that technology can offer - always involves a recycled plastic part in production, lenses in high quality mineral glass, and built-in hinges to reduce plastic usage to a minimum in an endless recycling solution.
Exclusivity, transgression, design. These are all concepts that have distinguished DaTE since it began. Which of these qualities most represent your brand and why?
I can tell you that our goals are inclusivity, balance and eco-design. Today we must have an inclusive approach and we must be balanced in our projects. Our planet has shown us the need to act with an eye to the future. We must overcome the concept of “here and now”, and work in the knowledge that what we do now is what we leave to those after us. Design as and end in itself no longer exists. And, in this way of thinking, we can perhaps call ourselves transgressive!
How does the Italian market perceive eyewear with high level of design, focused on craftsmanship and high-tech?
Today’s consumers are undoubtedly less easily influenced, with a higher level of awareness, not only looking for pure aesthetics. On the contrary, these consumers want a product with substance, which transmits an emotion based not only on what “you see” but also on what “is perceived”. 23° Eyewear wants to stand out not only as a product, but also for its green thinking applied to design, artisanship and technology.