Thursday, August 9, 2018

Selfridges Opens The Largest Eyewear Department In The UK

At a secret location, somewhere in Sweden, the eyewear designer Anna Karin Karlsson, (known for her highly decorative 18-carat gold specs bedazzled with real pearls and gems) has embarked on a very special mission with one of her top clients. "I do personal eyewear styling," she explains. Personal what? It involves going through her client's extensive closets and selecting eyewear to go with each look. If she can't find the right style, Karlsson designs something bespoke.

Employing a personal eyewear stylist may be pushing into Elton John territory in terms of extravagance (and fabulosity) but it reflects the importance eyewear now has in the fashion firmament. No longer an afterthought, it's now a key part of your look. "You don't just wear one pair of glasses anymore - you need a wardrobe of glasses," says Eleanor Robinson, director of accessories and eyewear at Selfridges. Today, the store opened the biggest eyewear department in the UK; 300 square metres devoted to sunnies and opticals (2,000 different styles from 43 brands) in the centre of its vast accessories hall (also the biggest in the world).

"Optical on the ground floor in a luxury fashion environment is quite unique but we believe optical glasses are a luxury fashion accessory just the same as a handbag or a pair of earrings," says Robinson. The major fashion tipping point has been Gucci giving eyewear pride of place on its runways, followed by major sunglasses moments on the catwalks at Prada (narrow Matrix-style shades) and Loewe (oversized retro-future visor styles).


Also ushering in a new high-fashion approach to specs are influential models Bella and Gigi Hadid (whose collection of on-trend narrow cat-eye styles for the eyewear brand Vogue is stocked in the new space) and the blogger Chiara Ferragni who regularly sports frames by Gucci, Fendi and Dior. "This generation are taking pictures of themselves all the time and sharing them. Different glasses give you a different look and give you something fresh immediately. It's your number one selfie accessory," says Robinson.

Selfridges has plenty of big brands including Ray-Ban, Le Specs and Chanel(which, for the first time, will be selling Chanel-branded optical lenses in Selfridges) but just as in fashion a wave of independent niche labels has brought disruption, excitement and plenty of innovation to the eyewear arena. Out in front is Gentle Monster, the cult Korean brand known for its devotion to "weird beauty" and distinctive two-tone lenses. They come with a health and safety warning (don’t drive in them). In just seven years it has grown to a $200 million brand.

As well as a shift in fashion attitudes, Selfridges expects to cash in on the increasing myopia of millennials and Generation Z whose eyesight is considerably worse than previous generations thanks to their addiction to screens. "Younger customers are clued into it," says Robinson who notes that the first entry point into luxury brands for so many people is eyewear. "Perhaps they can't afford a bag but they will buy into sunglasses. People will always want a pair of designer glasses - that's just the way of the world."

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