Swarovski. X. The Optical Shoppe. What do these equally influential companies have in common? That’s right – they all love a good rebrand! While we all remember The Optical Shoppe’s renovations and we’re still trying to forget about X, most people haven’t noticed that Swarovski has totally revamped their whole collection and we simply can’t have frames going under the radar.

Founded by Daniel Swarovski in 1895, this eyewear line is no stranger to crystal glass. For decades, they became known for their flawless and durable patented glass cutting process, which created the iconic Swarovski crystals we know and love today. 

The 20th century saw Swarovski become a household name. You could find a Swarovski crystal almost anywhere, from magazines, to billboards, to the big screen. Notably, every piece of jewelry used in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was composed entirely of authentic Swarovski crystals. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend – but Marilyn Monroe seemed to prefer Swarovski.

Above: Marilyn Monroe showing off her 100% Swarovski crystal jewelry while lying about liking diamonds

With their new rebrand, Swarovski has paired their classic crystals with bolder frame shapes and colours. By doing so, they’ve created a diverse collection where anyone can find a frame that fits with who they are without losing the elegance that you expect from the Swarovski brand name. Get you a frame that shines as bright as your personality!   

Rihanna once said: “Shine bright like a diamond”, but if you pop by The Optical Shoppe and see Swarovski’s re-launched eyewear line, then you’ll know just how silly Rihanna sounds because nothing shines brighter than a Swarovski crystal.

Christian Dior 

When it comes to eyewear, designer brands represent the future of optical fashion. They are constantly refreshing their collections and every year, we see each brand re-invent themselves in a new, yet modern, way. Christian Dior is no exception to this standard. With frames in almost every style imaginable, Dior has remained a staple in the global fashion industry for over 70 years so those of us with a Dior frame can feel confident that our glasses are fashionable, current and look totally aDiorable. 

Christian Dior was a French designer born in the early 1900s. After dropping out of school in 1928, Dior enlisted his father’s assistance to open an art gallery in Paris. By featuring artists’ work including Braque, Dali and Picasso, he developed a unique eye for style. After going bankrupt during the Great Depression, Dior spent the 30s sketching and selling fashion designs in order to support himself until he was enlisted in WWII. Upon his return to Paris in 1942, Christian Dior partnered with Pierre Balmain to start bringing his designs to life and by 1946 it was time for Christian to create the Christian Dior fashion house. 

The first collection by the Christian Dior fashion house proved controversial as it challenged the dramatic and sharp silhouettes from post-WWII fashion, instead opting for a shape with more femininity and softer features. However, it must be true that no press is bad press because while audiences were shocked by Dior’s “New Look” take on women’s fashion, Christian Dior quickly became one of the most talked about designers in the industry. Dior had become synonymous with breaking the rules and pushing boundaries. In the 1960s, Dior challenged the status quo once again by becoming the first major fashion house to acquire a license for the manufacturing of prescription eyewear, and thank goodness they did. I guess you could say they opened the Dior for designers and eyewear to exist together 

Today, Christian Dior embodies multi-faceted boundary-breaking fashion and you can really see that in their frame collection. There is something for everyone, from thick plastic sunglasses to thin metal frames to a pink visor for the country club – Dior has it covered and it’s almost guaranteed to turn heads. Plus, it never hurts to have glasses made by a pioneer of couture fashion. So the next time you’re by The Optical Shoppe, try on a designer frame – there’s a high chance we’ve got a Christian Dior ready and waiting for you! 

To quote Australian swifties, “Look what you made me Dior” 

Package Deal Alert!! It’s been a busy summer and we’ve been hard at work this year to make your glasses-purchasing experience easier in the form of a new package offer. Starting in September, The Optical Shoppe will be offering full frame and lens deals on One True Pair frames starting at $300. If you’re not an eyewear expert with a comprehensive knowledge of every frame brand, you’re probably asking yourself, “One True Pair? What is that eyewear line all about?” and if you are, then we’ve got you covered. 

One True Pair, or OTP as the cool opticians say, is an eyewear brand designed with the millennial consumer in mind. OTP believes that eyewear should reflect the many different personalities and lifestyles encapsulated in the millennial generation, there’s a frame for the guy who wants to quit his day job and live in Paraguay for a year AND for the woman who wants to jumpstart her career and buy a house. We think they achieved this goal perfectly. Metal OTP frames are characterized by their minimalistic style while their plastic counterparts are thicker and bolder which gives a rounded out style profile to the collection.  

In addition to providing eyewear for the average near or far-sighted millennial, OTP’s mission is to be the most eco-friendly, environmentally conscious brand on the market. When you look through OTP frames, you’ll notice that this line uses a softer colour palette in their designs, which allows them to produce 100% biodegradable plastic frames with biodegradable demo lenses to match. And for those of us who prefer a frame with nosepads, OTP nosepads are also totally recyclable so from temple to bridge, OTP is truly the most biode-great-able line you’ll find. They didn’t just stop with the frame either. All packaging materials that are used to get the frames to our store are also totally biodegradable and OTP cases are made of sustainable cork composed entirely of regenerated materials. OTP has truly ensured that every step of your consumer experience has been examined through an eco-friendly lens (no pun intended). 

So if you find yourself downtown, don’t hesitate to come and check out this line – or come by our Sip n’ Shoppe night on September 7^th. We’ll be open until 7:00pm that day to celebrate our new OTP package and we’ll save a snack or two for you! By the end the night you’ll be saying what we have for weeks: “One True Pair?? More like One True Package!” 

In London, 1967, Graham Cutler and Tony Gross met in optometry school and started a partnership that would grow to become one of the UK’s boldest eyewear brands. Cutler & Gross, founded in 1969, first began as a small optician’s office in Knightsbridge offering handmade bespoke frames to their clients. Their unique approach to eyewear featured bold designs with strong materials and is often credited with pioneering the concept of eyewear as a fashion accessory in the United Kingdom. In 1982, due to rapid expansion of the eyewear industry, Cutler & Gross was forced to follow suit by hiring a new head of design, Marie Wilkinson, who has maintained this role for the last 40 years and still continues to design frames for Cutler & Gross today.  

Cutler & Gross has built a reputation over their almost half a century in business and to commemorate their founders’ wide portfolio of work, The Cutler & Gross Museum opened to the public in August 2011. The Museum features over 1000 designer frames dating all the way back to their first frame, released in 1969. The Museum also features frames that were bespoke and worn by a plethora of celebrities including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Daniel Craig. If you’ve ever tried to sit on the fancy looking box that turned out to be a multi-million dollar piece of art, at The Museum, all of the frames on display are free to try on. That’s right, they’re totally happy to entertain your dreams of power strutting while wearing the original Kingsman frame to see if you really do have what it takes to be a super spy.  

On top of the fashion statement that a bold frame can make, what we here at The Optical Shoppe love most about Cutler & Gross is their durability. When Cutler and Gross started their luxury eyewear brand, they knew they wanted to push the boundaries of design but they wanted to make sure that they didn’t sacrifice the structural integrity while doing so. With this in mind, every Cutler & Gross frame is built to last and typically has a number of design elements that are conducive to the overall functionality of the frame. Whether you’re a stylish Samantha or a functional Fred, Cutler & Gross is guaranteed to have a bold, fashion-forward frame for you! 

If you’re someone who misses Mardi Gras every time you see a beaded necklace, it might be time to join the KREWE crew! Based in New Orleans, KREWE designs bring an element of culture and eclecticism to the optical industry that is totally unique, just like their hometown. In 2013, photographer Stirling Barrett wanted to find another way to capture the essence of New Orleans and stumbled upon his grandfather’s vintage frame collection, giving him all of the inspiration he needed to jumpstart his eyewear brand. KREWE has since grown exponentially as an eyewear company, earning praise from fashion icons like Beyoncé and Meghan Markle. By 2019, Barrett was recognized on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list of the most influential innovators in art and style, and once you see some of the colours these frames come in, you’ll see why. 

Stirling Barrett believes the common perception of New Orleans is that it’s a city grounded in the past, but with the personality that each KREWE frame has, he hopes that he can breathe a new, modern life into New Orleans. Here at The Optical Shoppe, we love a frame with attitude and what has more attitude than a frame modelled after the French Quarter? KREWE made their Optical Shoppe debut in October and we can’t believe they weren’t here sooner! From bridge to temple, KREWE is an absolute party and since it’s already a party over here 24/7, it really was time we added a Mardi Gras vibe to round out the atmosphere. 

Why did the tomato buy a pair of Tom Ford frames? Because it wanted to ketchup with the latest fashion trends and if you’re anything like that tomato, Tom Ford can do the same for you! This line features luxury materials and unmatched craftsmanship that provides wearers with a bold, yet refined look that is perfect for anything from a day at the office or a cozy night in. One the things that makes Tom Ford eyewear especially unique is the signature T logo that you can find wrapped around the front hinge of every Tom Ford frame. Since 2005 when the brand launched, this T has become a symbol for luxury and high-quality standards in the fashion industry.

The Tom Ford brand means precision and attention to detail, which is something that Tom Ford credits to his time working on his architecture degree from Parsons School of Design. Ford has said that the ability to make clean lines and structured shapes is what allowed him to make his first splash in the world of fashion with his unique take on menswear, which caught the eye of the House of Gucci. In 1990, Ford was hired as Gucci’s chief women’s ready-to-wear designer and he quickly went on to become Gucci’s design director in 1992. Until his departure from Gucci in 2005, Ford flipped Gucci’s entire brand on its head, from eyewear to fragrances. Prior to Ford, Gucci was making brown suits that typically took on a rounder structure but in the 90s, they began crafting black, squared off suits and began seeing major success as a result. The House of Gucci, which was nearly insolvent when the hired Tom Ford, was valued at nearly $10 billion when he left to create Tom Ford.

Tom Ford as a brand is also heavily referenced in pop culture.  The brand has been mention in songs like “Suit & Tie” by Justin Timberlake and “Tom Ford” by Jay-Z, the latter of which went on to sell over a million copies and become certified platinum.  Tom Ford is also responsible for dressing many of the celebrities you see on TV and in movies. Celebrities like Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Gosling and even Michelle Obama have been spotted wearing custom Tom Ford designs. In movies, you can find Tom Ford suits in the last four James Bond movies featuring Daniel Craig and if you watched House of Gucci featuring Lady Gaga, you’ll know that Tom Ford is represented as a character portrayed by Reeve Carney. Needless to say, if you want to feel like a movie star or a super spy, Tom Ford might be the brand for you.

On those days when it feels like winter in April, why not add a little California to your life with an l.a.Eyeworks frame? In 1979, two inseparable high school friends named Barbara McReynolds and Gai Gherardi opened a storefront on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles and, unsurprisingly, they quickly grew to become an internationally renowned eyewear company that we are proud to feature in our store. Today, l.a.Eyeworks remains independently owned under the leadership of McReynolds and Gherardi and aims to push the boundaries of eyewear design by pairing bold and daring frames with bright, expressive colours. Like their frames, l.a.Eyeworks also pushes societal boundaries with their ad campaigns. The l.a.Eyeworks Portrait Campaign has become iconic in LA and features a wide range of celebrities and cultural provocateurs from Danny Trejo, Reggie Watts, and John Waters to Grace Jones, Leslie Jordan and RuPaul. I guess it’s true that big names like funky frames!

l.a.Eyeworks’ mission is to challenge the status quo in a fun, proud and expressive way and we think they nailed it…I mean, what’s more fun than a frame named Pancake? Anyone who knows us here at The Optical Shoppe will also know that we love bringing a bright and energetic vibe to our store in whatever way we can, and l.a.Eyeworks’ passion for fun does that perfectly. Whether you’re someone who loves unexpected eyewear design or you just want to be amazed by how many different shapes glasses could possibly be made in, we’re sure that this brand will have a frame that (eye)works for you!