Glasseswebb has a fresh New Look ready for S/S 2021
It’s been a very long time coming. Here we are with a fresh New Look ready to help us out of the doldrums we’re in. We’ve looked through our Vintage Sunglass stash, from back in the day, (early naughties to be precise, which might as well be a different Decade & on a different planet). These are some of the cream of the crop.
They’re standout, heirloom rarities, that we sincerely hope you’ll enjoy feasting your eyes on. They’re one of a kind, dramatic, statement pieces. They look as amazing now as they did 15+ years ago.
Big shout out to Philip Gatward for the stunning product shots & Joe Lang for our new site build.
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In fact, we are feeling very nostalgic this month looking back on some exciting styles and friends from years gone by. In a recent trip to Marseille we embarked on a detour to explore the old HQ of our friends at the IDC glasses company. In case you aren’t familiar with IDC they designed and crafted some astonishing contemporary pieces of eyewear. Almost akin to a piece of artwork (as well as fantastic pair of specs) these glasses walk wonderfully the fine line of being outrageously cool and wacky.
As purveyors of all things stylish and vintage in the glasses world, it will not come as a surprise to you all that Glasseswebb worked closely with the company in the 1990’s. The company unfortunately folded and the HQ itself is on the brink of demolition. However, with this sadness also came an amazing opportunity for us to have glimpse into the old building where design initiative translated from glasses into the rest of the office! We managed to snap some unique pics of the offices themselves, giving a wonderful insight into the optical splendour that pervaded their headquarters. Even the office wear itself was styled on bold lines, bright colours and outstanding shapes. You can certainly get a feeling from some of the snaps we took that the office itself oozed design and creativity.
And incase you didn’t know, IDC stands for ‘International Design Creation’. A fitting title as these frames transcend boundaries of typical models, they are certainly frames to be appreciated by all! However, whilst popular in their time, in my internet searches the IDC’s optical gems have proved hard to spot online. However, there is certainly an underground following on Pinterest and tumblr for these amazing creations. Fans describe the creations as ‘luminous’ ‘innovative’ and ‘avant garde’. Most significantly, for all of our stylish Glasseswebb customers we are currently stocking 3 fantastic IDC designs on the vintage section of our website. This small but standout collection illustrates the range of relationships Glasseswebb has with timeless style. So if you want to get your hands on these optical rarities take a trip to the website today!
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We’ve hit the ground running in July after the success of our pop up shop at Leigh on Sea earlier in the Spring. This month marks a busy start for us with new collections, new images and some wonderful news from our fantastic friends here at Glasseswebb. Take a trip to our Pinterest page for all the latest images of our fantastic time at Leigh on Sea and get pinning!
We’re constantly adding to our fabulous collections online. On that note, take some time to check out the website this week to see some of the new additions to the Clayton Franklin collection. There's also some stunning new Vintage Titanium Aviators. More about those later on. Sunglasses and prescription lenses are available in a variety of elegant styles and colours. High quality, hand crafted, retro masterpieces are available online now. And in case you can’t decide which pair you want (it’s hard we know!) we’ve again employed the expertise of the excellent Philip Gatward to provide you with some inspirational stylish shots of the Clayton Franklin frames. Philip’s images are on the website now and capture perfectly the innate style of the uber slick Clayton Franklin collection. If this isn’t enough we are very proud to announce that Philip’s stylish and sophisticated images have been nominated for a Spider Photography award. What a great way to introduce the new collection!
Also, we’ve been keeping up to date with our resident models The Voyeurs who have recently hit the Glastonbury stage this summer with our old friends and models TOY. Earlier in the year, The Voyeurs worked with Philip on our wonderful Clayton Franklin shoot making easy work of glasses modelling. The Voyeurs second album is currently available at Heavenly Records entitled ‘Rhubarb, Rhubarb’. These boys are shaking up the music scene this summer, as well as working it with some incredibly cool shades, if we do say so ourselves!
Follow us on Twitter @glasseswebb
]]>It's your last chance this Saturday June 13th, to meet International Eyewear Gurus & Dispensing Opticians Tim & Mo Webb. They'll be at the Pop Up shop in Leigh-on-Sea from 10 a.m. until 4p.m.
It's the last day to order RX lenses for your stunning new KBL Optical or Sunglass frames. They will be happy to help with all your Optical needs, including styling, frame fitting & RX lenses. Please drop us an email if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment.
KBL Sunglasses will still be available throughout the summer at Shout The Design Shop 85 Broadway West, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 2BU.
]]>Cameron and Maybach – a coalition made in Heaven
Pollsters have been sweating over their clipboards and clicker-counters over the last few weeks as Election Fever sweeps the country. Places such as Eastbourne and Chorley have long been held up as microcosms of the way the country will vote nationally, and have come under the public opinion industry’s spotlight in the hope of correctly predicting the next government.
Party leaders, too, have come under the closest scrutiny, with their every word, move and nuance discussed endlessly. David Cameron’s suits, Ed Milliband’s shoes, Nigel Farage’s hats – all have been the subject of fierce debate and fevered speculation. But all we are interested in is eyewear. Forget trivial things such as policies: we want to know what spectacles and shades would best suit the party leaders.
It’s no secret that, since we opened the first of our pop-up shops in Leigh-on-Sea, the small town full of independent shops and shoppers has become the UK’s centre for fashion eyewear, and its residents and traders are now the country’s best-informed about the ranges and brands at the forefront of the industry. So it was only natural that we took to the streets to ask people what they thought about the competing political parties and the eyewear that would best suit them.
“Cameron, he’s definitely, definitely Clayton Franklin,” said local accordionist Chris Maugham. “Their directness, their boldness, suits him down to the ground.” “Yeh, Clayton Franklin for Cameron,” Shirley McBurley of Sarongs4U told our interviewer. “He’d look barmy in Barton Perreira, mad in Moscot and kinky in KBL.”
As for Ed Milliband, opinion was divided. “I can’t imagine Ed having a kind of bohemian lifestyle,” Sammy Maguire of the Rendezvous café said. “So it would have to be Moscot, for me.” But his partner, Somerset O’Mahoney, disagreed. “I would say he’s Barton Perreira. Their range has so much variation that he could keep changing his glasses as often as he changes his mind.”
Nigel Farage attracted the most varied responses. “Poundland,” pronounced Peter Peasepudding of Cod Help Us fish ’n’ chip shop in Broadway West. “Oh, no, it’s got to be 99p Stores,” said a waiting customer, who asked to remain anonymous. But there was dissent from the customer behind her in the queue. “He’s got more style than that. I can see him in those posh £3.99 ones they have in the Factory Shop,” he said.
After asking almost 100 local shoppers and shopworkers which brand of glasses Nick Clegg would choose, we drew a blank. “I know the name, but I can’t place him,” was the response from most interviewees. “Is he that bloke from the Carpet World ads?” asked one.
A clipboard, similar to the clipboards used by our team of researchers
Almost all of those questioned were united in their opinion as to which glasses would suit the Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett. The brands, whether Moscot, Barton Perreira, Clayton Franklin, Maybach or any of the other fabulous collections that we stock, were not important. A massive 99% of respondents simply said that her spectacle frames and lenses should be green.
It was certainly an eye-opening couple of days work, footing it around Leigh-on-Sea with our clipboards and microphones. Highlights of our interviews will be available as a podcast shortly. Here are the results, as voiced by the good shoppeople of Leigh-on-Sea.
Conservative – Maybach (associated with the super-rich)
Labour – Moscot
Lib Dems – KBL Kind of Bohemian Lifestyle (one respondent)
Green Party – HOET 3D Printed Titanium – one-seventh of the carbon footprint of most other eyewear brands
UKIP – sorry, we can’t sell them any of our fabulous European and US brands.
SNP – Claymore Franklin
Glasseswebb's resident psychic, futurologist and predictrix has shone her all-seeing eye over the coming election and predicted that the Conservative party will come through with 331 seats, and Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage will all resign the next morning in the wake of their humiliating defeats. Let's see if our Mystic Mo is right. She usually is.
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One of the many fantastic things about having a pop-up shop is when people pop in. We are always happy to see our friends, so it was a delight when Ralph Albrecht from KBL Eyewear came to see us. Ralph popped over from Germany to have a look at lovely Leigh-on-Sea and visit our auftauchen Geschäft, as they say there.
What do we like about KBL Eyewear? As with everything else we have to delight our customers, it is a combination of style, engineering, design and that little bit more. And those little details make these frames so desirable.
“Look along the arms of this frame,” Ralph says, holding out his own KBL glasses. “Here is the Empire State building.” And, look closer, and there it is, subtly engraved along the arm, so subtly that you could have owned a pair for a few months and not noticed it, unlike the garish, blunt hallmarks of overpriced brands. There are other subtle touches on these frames, too: the KBL initials laser-engraved on to the unique hinges, the sanded areas blending in to the polished parts ... there is so much about them to explore. Another thing that you won’t realise by looking at photos but only by handling a pair of KBL glasses is the weight: reassuring, solid, comforting: this is something you are glad you have bought for yourself.
With more than 500 outlets in Europe, KBL have only two in the UK, but in the age of the internet, when you can order online a pint of milk from the corner shop, this is not a problem to Ralph. “The UK market is important to us, but we want to grow steadily.
“We love the guys at Glasseswebb. They are friends as well as partners. Their enthusiasm for our collection has helped us to establish a foothold in this country, to help us go forward. Leigh-on-Sea is a great setting for our collection.”
KBL’s emergence out of Europe and into a wider market is evident in their latest styles, which are pitched at a younger market. While this is an area that almost every business is aiming at (apart from marketers of stairlifts and granny scooters), Ralph believes that they offer something different and more valuable. Even the over-25s can feel a few years younger behind a pair of these frames.
“All of our collection is at a good price level. This makes it fair for everyone – the manufacturers, the retailers and the customers – and that is how we want to operate our business, how we want to live with each other.”
The latest look of KBL Eyewear is so appealing. The photos and their locations are gorgeous, but it is only when you hold a pair of these frames in the palm of your hand, when you wear them, when you examine the exquisite detailing on every pair, that you realise just how much work, how much thought, how much care goes into them.
Put them on your face. Take them off again. Now, which do you prefer?
One of the many fantastic things about having a pop-up shop is when people pop in. We are always happy to see our friends, so it was a delight when Ralph Albrecht from KBL Eyewear came to see us. Ralph popped over from Germany to have a look at lovely Leigh-on-Sea and visit our auftauchen Geschäft, as they say there.
What do we like about KBL Eyewear? As with everything else we have to delight our customers, it is a combination of style, engineering, design and that little bit more. And those little details make these frames so desirable.
“Look along the arms of this frame,” Ralph says, holding out his own KBL glasses. “Here is the Empire State building.” And, look closer, and there it is, subtly engraved along the arm, so subtly that you could have owned a pair for a few months and not noticed it, unlike the garish, blunt hallmarks of overpriced brands. There are other subtle touches on these frames, too: the KBL initials laser-engraved on to the unique hinges, the sanded areas blending in to the polished parts ... there is so much about them to explore. Another thing that you won’t realise by looking at photos but only by handling a pair of KBL glasses is the weight: reassuring, solid, comforting: this is something you are glad you have bought for yourself.
With more than 500 outlets in Europe, KBL have only two in the UK, but in the age of the internet, when you can order online a pint of milk from the corner shop, this is not a problem to Ralph. “The UK market is important to us, but we want to grow steadily.
“We love the guys at Glasseswebb. They are friends as well as partners. Their enthusiasm for our collection has helped us to establish a foothold in this country, to help us go forward. Leigh-on-Sea is a great setting for our collection.”
KBL’s emergence out of Europe and into a wider market is evident in their latest styles, which are pitched at a younger market. While this is an area that almost every business is aiming at (apart from marketers of stairlifts and granny scooters), Ralph believes that they offer something different and more valuable. Even the over-25s can feel a few years younger behind a pair of these frames.
“All of our collection is at a good price level. This makes it fair for everyone – the manufacturers, the retailers and the customers – and that is how we want to operate our business, how we want to live with each other.”
The latest look of KBL Eyewear is so appealing. The photos and their locations are gorgeous, but it is only when you hold a pair of these frames in the palm of your hand, when you wear them, when you examine the exquisite detailing on every pair, that you realise just how much work, how much thought, how much care goes into them.
Put them on your face. Take them off again. Now, which do you prefer?
]]>Moscot's 100th birthday party
Well, here we are in Milan for MIDO, the eyewear show that just wallows in style.
Milan is known the world over for its Italian food, so we brought our own packed lunches. And, boy, did our lunchboxes get some admiring glances from the Vespa crew. People often ask which is the world’s fashion capital: is it Tokyo, Milan, Paris, New York? The truth is, it’s wherever the Glasseswebb crew and our entourage are right now. So it was Milan, for the three days in February that MIDO hosted an exhibition of the world’s latest, coolest designs in eyewear.
This year, the 45th MIDO event, a record-breaking 49,000 visitors attended to gush over the merchandise, and it’s great to feel the buzz around the different districts, labs and pavilions. There is so much going on, with everyone here for one purpose – to spread stylish eyewear all over the globe. And possibly beyond ...
We were especially pleased to hook up with our partners. Barton Perreira launched their sunglasses collaboration with famed designers Christian Roth and Eric Domège, who have been creating ‘wow’ frames for 30 years. There are many over-used clichés around to describe gifted people – legend, überkind, you know the sort of thing – but these guys are ... well, they need a superlative all of their own. So this capsule collaboration between two huge forces in eyewear, which they have name The Affair, was like a marriage made in heaven. Well, California, actually, and consummated in Milan.
Milan meets Barton Perriera meets Christian Roth
Some other guys we have worked closely with for a very long time are Moscot (http://www.moscot.com), and they really blew the show apart. They celebrated their centenary with a fabulous party and the star of that show was their very own Smart Car, designed with Daimler. For their centenary year, they have launched the gorgeous classic Lemfold collection – think Cary Grant played by Brad Pitt. And Glasseswebb will be stocking the stars of this collection in our pop-up shop in Leigh-on-Sea shortly.
The Moscot Daimler Smart Car
Visitors flocking to the pop-up shop will also be able to see pieces from the new Sky Eyes Sunglass collection from our old friends J F Rey, bringing yet more French style across the Channel. Or La Manche, as they insist on calling it. We were really impressed by the fashion-forward funkiness of the collection with their usual quirkiness.
French style, JF Rey-style
There was so much to see and do at MIDO Milan, and we saw and did all of it, a whirlwind of styles, the classic, the modern and new, edgy stuff that, like the work of, say, Andy Warhol, is derided at first but goes on to influence a generation. After we’ve calmed down after the thrills of this year’s MIDO, we’ll be looking forward to next year. All we need to think about is what to put in our lunchboxes ...
Happy Birthday Moscot
]]>The shoot in progress
Under European law, only pop stars are allowed to wear sunglasses indoors, and at night. Of course, if you are lucky or cool enough to own Clayton Franklin shades, you wouldn’t want to ever take them off, even in bed. So who better to model our new range of Clayton Franklin eyewear than East London’s The Voyeurs (https://www.facebook.com/TheVoyeursOfficial). The guys took time out from preparing for their upcoming tour, promoting their latest album, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, out on Heavenly Records, and generally being one of the coolest bands around. Cool things attract each other and our pictures show this is a marriage made in Coolsville, on the planet Cool.
And we were delighted to employ once again the services of photographer Philip Gatward (www.philipgatward.com/). Philip is the ideal choice to capture these beautifully-crafted eyewear pieces – the quality of his work is always right up there. Take a look at his website for a selection of stunning shots, presented with charm and a brilliant, quirky sense of humour.
Having chosen our models and photographer, the only thing left to consider was the venue for the shoot (last time The Voyeurs posed for us, we got some great shots of them at The Social). This took us almost two seconds before we decided on the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston (http://www.shacklewellarms.com/). This groovy bar and music venue sees a constant stream of up and coming artists either on stage or in the audience. Anyone who’s going to be anyone is attracted to the venue and has graced its PA system.
With these ingredients, how fantastic was the shoot going to be? As fantastic as we had dared to hope, of course, that’s how much. In fact, even more fantastico than that. Everyone involved has done a fantastic job, not just coming together to create some stunning images, but also showing the precision engineering and innate style of Clayton Franklin eyewear, both shades and prescription lenses. Whatever Clayton Franklin produce next, you can be sure to be able to see it on this site or in our Dover Street Market outlet.
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We were so excited to open our Moscot pop-up shop in Leigh-on-Sea and even more excited by the response. Setting up among dozens of other independent shops proved to be an inspired idea. We made loads of sales (which was the point, of course), but, just as importantly, loads of new customers, contacts and friends. We put this down to a combination of our charm, good looks, professionalism and oh, I can’t keep this up. The fact is that Moscot eyewear, as with the other stunning brands that we have on offer, just sells itself because it’s so bloody good.
We said when this thing started that it wasn’t meant to last, just a brief, exciting, whirlwind affair for a few breathtaking weeks. And then we would stop, kiss goodbye and go our separate ways. But we can’t stop now. The feeling is too strong. So we’re staying a bit longer, here at the White Wall Space in Broadway West.
Our internationally-renowned team of retail makeover specialists (Simon) are giving the room a new look for its new direction. Which is a good thing, and certainly fits in with Leigh-on-Sea’s shopping scene. Very few of the retailers around us have to take orders from Head Office – instead, they can tailor their stock, promotions and look to whatever they think their customers will want next.
So, we will be stocking some designers that we already have on offer at Dover Street Market, such as Clayton Franklin, as well as some unusual vintage pieces, which will keep the pop in our pop-up. We will constantly rotate and update the stock in the shop, so there will always be something different and just as stylish for visitors to look at.
At the same time, at the more affordable end of the market we’re nothing if not democratic), we’ll be offering a range of colourful, Swiss-engineered reading glasses in a range of colours, styles in the usual strengths. We have managed to price these at a very reasonable £29.00.
Another affordable range is our selection of nylon frames, also boasting precision Swiss engineering. We think they are both stylish and colourful, as we would be proud to wear everything we stock and recommend them to friends. During the week, Simon and Alice will be on hand to guide customers to the right choice for them; for single vision lenses, professional and experienced advice on fitting or styling, Tim and Mo will be on hand at weekends or a couple of times a month for appointments.
So, things change, but they stay the same, as the French would say if they could speak a proper language. Already we’re thinking about the next pop-up incarnation in our cosy nook in Broadway West. Around Easter time, our stunning range of Fabulous Funky French sunglasses will be available, just in time for the glorious summer we will no doubt all be enjoying. So pop in to our pop-up – because without you, we’re nothing.
]]>Clayton Franklin’s superb range of eyewear combines the best of everything in its every aspect – Japanese precision engineering and British design that echoes the restrained style of the first few decades of the 20th century. We think these spectacles, manufactured by the revered Hiero House in Sabae, are among the coolest around.
But we would say that, wouldn’t we? So let’s hear from Professor Christophe Pupille, fashion historian, style commentator and Prédicteur de la Mode at the world-renowned Lycée de Prêt Énsion in Paris.
“Imagine a crossroads,” he told Glasseswebb. “There are four roads. Along one road is travelling aesthetic brilliance, and on the next is a finger on the pulse of modernity, and on the next is precision engineering so precise that it cannot be measured and on the fourth is that elusive je ne sais quoi. And they are all travelling towards this crossroads at high speed and they arrive at the same time and BOUM! there is a big explosion, or explosion grande, as we say in Paris, and these four are mashed together and the result is ... Clayton Franklin eyewear.
“When one puts a pair of Clayton Franklin spectacles on one’s face, on one’s nose, it is a feeling that you have become a complete person, or personne à part entière, as we say in Paris. It is a common cause of distress in the world of fashion that people have the right clothes, the right shoes, the right haircut, but the nagging feeling that something is missing. And the nagging feeling nags away and the nagging only stops when the fashionista completes his or her look with a pair of Clayton Franklin spectacles, or lunettes, as we say in Paris.
“It is Autumn and the boulevards of Paris are carpeted with golden leaves. I am wearing a beautiful checked shirt from Marks et Spéncer, a vintage Harris tweed jacket and burgundy corduroys. I look like a picture, but no-one on the boulevards notices me. Maybe just a quick glance, but unseeing. They walk past, parlez-ing into their iPhones, oblivious of my existence. Then I pull a pair of Clayton Franklin spectacles from my pocket. I put them on my face. Suddenly the glances turn into long, lingering stares. Men and women alike smile in admiration. They cannot take their eyes from me as I stroll along the boulevards, now the complete picture of sophisticated dressing. They want to look at me. They want to be me. They want me.”
Well, you can’t argue with an authority like that, can you? It is the combination, as the professor says, of design and manufacture of the highest quality that makes Clayton Franklin’s eyewear so desirable. But there is more to them than good looks and a superbly comfortable fit. The designs summon up a time when the world had better manners, more understanding, more respect. It is the world of Bertie Wooster, the Golden Age of the Orient Express and tweed. Classic styling is timeless. Or as Professor Pupille would say: classe est intemporelle.
]]>We’ve had a very inspiring and exciting partnership with Women In The City for a while now, and the annual lunch at the Plaisterer’s Hall is a great institution. The main event is respectfully formal, with toasts to the Queen and the Royal Family, as well as the Corporation of London, which fit both the venue and occasion perfectly. Less formally, there is also the chance to mingle, network or just chat with like-minded business people. As well, of course, as the all-important awards which include the Future Leaders Award and the Woman of Achievement Award.
Glasseswebb’s Mo first heard of the organisation when she sold a pair of glasses to its founder, Gwen Rhys, and this inspiring woman’s enthusiasm for everything she does meant that we couldn’t help getting involved, becoming a brand partner. Gwen was appointed in 2008 Assistant to the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers, and is now its Prime Warden, which appealed to both Mo and Tim Webb, who are both Freemen of the City of London.
Gwen is also heavily involved in the City Guilds, and this body’s aim of helping young people to train, to learn, to forge a career productively, was something else that appealed to us in a big way. It is a responsibility of anyone in business, indeed any adult, to think about the generation who will come after us, and the help we appreciate having ourselves when we were young.
Glasseswebb donated a £200 voucher towards glasses, joining other raffle prizes at the lunch such as dinner, bed and breakfast at Hanbury Manor (http://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/stngs-hanbury-manor-marriott-hotel-and-country-club/), a £200 voucher from fashion label The Fold London (http://thefoldlondon.com) and a free weekly sandwich from Plan Bread (http://www.planbread.co.uk).
There was heartwarming news after the event, too. The winner of the Glasseswebb voucher was Glenn Norman, of SGN, who emailed us to say: “Many thanks for the voucher I won at the raffle on Friday. I would like to donate this prize to The Jack Sims Trust where it will be raffled. Jack Sims Trust is a charity we are supporting at my offices for a young child of one of our employees who needs surgery in the US.” Some people are just great, aren’t they?
Also attending was our friend Rebecca Simpson, who Mo invited along to the lunch. “I was always sceptical of awards ceremonies,” says this City of London stockbroker. “But I’m so glad I could attend. It made me think: what have I done to help others come up through my profession? Because you do a lot better pulling people up than pushing them down.”
]]>It’s been a rewarding and enjoyable 20 years or so working with Bill Barton and Patty Perreira. As well as supplying their range to many top London stores, such as Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Mr Porter, we have an extensive selection in our Dover Street Market outlet.
The story of Barton Perreira began when prestigious eyewear brand Oliver Peoples was taken over. At the time, Bill Barton was Oliver Peoples’ president and Patty Perreira its chief designer. Not wanting to get caught up in corporate shenanigans, the pair decided to use their skills and experience in the glasses business to set up on their own and form the company that bears their names.
Patty has been quoted as saying that much of her inspiration comes from pop culture, the beat movement. But there is much more to Barton Perreira eyewear than that. Much of the range evokes the Hollywood of the late 1930s and 1940s. Not so much the dramas, melodramas and crime films that proliferated, more the easy, everyday elegance of Cary Grant. Or, for that matter, any Coen brothers film set in that period – Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy.
And speaking of Hollywood, it hasn’t done the brand any harm at all to have such customers as Angelina Jolie, Heidi Klum, Jessica Biel and Orlando Bloom, as well as collaborations with Chlöe Sevigny. In the movie business, an industry naturally obsessed with how everything looks, every single component of a film star’s outfits must be considered, so it is a great compliment to Barton Perreira that so many of these people, these icons, have chosen to endorse the brand. Actor Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar, A Million Ways To Die In The West) went one better and collaborated with Patty to produce two new designs – the brilliantly-named Giovanni and the Ribisi.
The high end of the eyewear market is pretty crowded. In fact, the whole fashion world is full of innovators, great stylists and designers, all of whom are worthy of attention, so it is only nuances that distinguish them from each other. This is where Barton Perreira has succeeded, with subtlety in their designs that many other brands just can’t quite achieve. Add to this the fact that all of their pieces are hand-made in Japan by artisans using high-quality materials and it is easy to see why Barton Perreira are preferred to their competitors.
At Glasseswebb, we love being associated with this brand, can’t wait to see the latest collection and bask in the reflected glory of the admiration shown by visitors to our little part of Dover Street Market. Maybe there is one small drawback for Barton Perreira; that, having reached the top, there is a constant pressure to stay there, to keep moving forward, to stay ahead having worked so hard to get there. But this won’t be a problem, we are sure. The designs seem so natural, never imitative of any others, that you just know that there’s plenty more where that came from.
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Glasseswebb have had a long association with Moscot, the iconic eyewear company from NYC. We have promoted the brand in selected locations, so it was only natural that we should open Moscot’s first pop-up shop in Leigh-on-Sea.
Leigh is a unique shopping area by the Thames Estuary, with more than a hundred independent retailers operating along its long, winding Broadway. People come from miles around, especially on Saturdays, to browse and buy everything from corsets to chorizo. It is often called trendy in a derisory way, but it’s not Leigh’s fault if it starts trends that others follow.
So Leigh-on-Sea and our Moscot shop were made for each other. Glasseswebb took over the White Wall Space gallery, just off Broadway West, in October and the shop was an immediate hit. Even though we say so ourselves. the shop does look brilliant. Moscot’s unique branding stops passers-by in their tracks – and so it should.
The company was founded in 1915 by Hyman Moscot, who arrived at New York’s Ellis Island, along with tens of thousands of other emigrés from Eastern Europe. Hyman began selling spectacles from a handcart around the streets of New York – truly the world’s first pop-up shop! He was joined by his son, Sol, when they opened the company’s first non-moving shop, and the family business has been trading in Manhattan ever since.
Moscot is all about style, not just in their range of classic and modern eyewear, but in the branding, continuing with the bold fonts and styling used in the original 1925 Moscot shop. Our pop-up shop is an absolute wonder of styling, eye-catching but understated at the same time. Moscot themselves were delighted with the opening – have a look here: http://www.moscot.com/whatsnew.asp
Their presence in Leigh follows from the success of Moscot’s shop-in-shop in another world centre of fashion excellence – Dover Street Market (DSM) New York. The pop-up popped up in December 2013 and DSM NYC was clearly a home-from-home for the iconic eyewear brand which, as they say, shares their sense of aesthetic, character and style. Moscot came in at the very beginning as this coincided with the opening of DSM’s store. To celebrate the launch of the store and their own involvement, Moscot launched the limited edition Lemtosh in Tobacco with Calibar Green tinted lenses. These were only made available to DSM department stores in New York, London and Tokyo, keeping the sense of exclusivity and desirability which makes the brand so exciting. As well, of course, as having a fantastic range of funky styles!
We’re loving the Leigh-on-Sea pop-up shop. The display looks so cool we really should charge people just to look, but we won’t, because we’re nice. For more about Dover Street Market London, click here: http://london.doverstreetmarket.com
We’ll have more news about our involvement with the coolest retailer on the planet coming up soon.
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Take advantage of WINNING a £250.00 Glasseswebb Voucher by attending "5th Future Leaders Award Celebration Breakfast & Sympoium" by Women in the city AND enter coupon flchamp30 on checkout and you’ll get £30 off the price of your ticket.
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Cris chose a Vintage Armani sunglass, with great coverage for the summer
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Ruth Whitehead Associates
Ruth not only changed our lives but also happens to conduct a local orchestra, The Chorus of Dissent & The Elastic Band. We made Ruth a pair of specs specifically for her Intermediate distance range.
She is in charge of a Multi-award winning Independent Financial Advisers based in Stoke Newington, London whose awards include Responsible Investment IFA of the year 2012 and 2013; she was shortlisted for the same award in 2014.
Her firm was also Shortlisted for Small IFA of the year 2011.
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We recently styled some of our friends & favourite hairdressers, Jim, Adrian & Tom.
Jim is wearing the Koopa from Moscot, in black & crystal gradient.
Adrian is looking very rock & roll in his Matt Black Clayton Franklin 729’s, Tom went for the modern lines of a Vintage Hugo Boss frame, with G15 lenses.
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Wearing the new collection from Clayton Franklin, we think they look pretty damn fine.
Here's a taster of the some of the shoot... more to follow.
]]>Wearing Gianfranco Ferre from GW
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Faris wearing the Barton Perreira Banks with sunclip whilst headlining the Park Stage at Glastonbury.
Check out our Wholesale page for more details
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Panda from TOY wearing the Hilton 24K gold plated aviator in Gold & Tort
Backstage at Glastonbury looking suitably Rock n Roll.
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