We Got A Glimpse of the New John Galliano and Tod’s Line of Sunglasses and You Are Going to LOVE Them!

This week  Marcolin, the U.S. distributor of Tom Ford, Tod’s and DSquared2, stopped in to show us the new sunglass lines from John Galliano and Tod’s.

At first we were a little skeptical.

We’ve been searching for some new eyewear lines to add at Urban Optiques for several months now, and what we’ve seen so far (outside of Francis Klein) hasn’t particularly impressed us.

We pretty much knew what we didn’t want:  Yet another line of sunglasses from some giant corporate design center with yet another fashion designer’s name stuck on the temple with something akin to Super Glue as an afterthought.

There are tons of those brands out there, and outside of the designer logo itself, there’s really not much in terms of unique design to differentiate these eyewear lines from each other.

John Galliano and His Sunglasses to the Rescue!

But when Marcolin pulled out the John Galliano sunglasses, all of our eyes lit up around Urban Optiques.

Based on what we saw, we’re pretty confident the new John Galliano and Tod’s suns are going to be huge hits with our clients and patients this summer.

Even better, they truly embody the brand and design aesthetic associated with the designer and fashion behind the name.

The collections are extremely deep out-of-the gate for a new line, providing a great mix of aviators and Italian Zyle frames in both men’s, women’s and unisex designs.

Even better, the collections represent a clear contrast in styles and design aesthetics that we think fill unique niches for our clients and will appeal to different fashion sensibilities.

The new John Galliano sunglasses are pretty much exactly what you’d expect from this fashion maverick.

They are trendy, a bit edgy, and clearly convey the creative, artistic — and often controversial — philosophy that has made John Galliano one of the most daring and respected fashion designers in the world.

That said, the Galliano sunglass line is extremely diverse. We saw plenty of sunglass frames from John Galliano that we are certain will appeal to even our more conservative clients.

On the other hand, if you want to walk more on the wild side, he has plenty of options for you as well. If you want to play it safer (but still fashionable), you are covered also with this sunglass collection.

One of Galliano’s fashion muses is the Bolero dancer of his native Spain and the new Galliano Sunglass Collection — like his couture fashion — draws inspiration from the Bolero.

The sunglass pictured above was inspired by the intricate, decorative hair clips worn by Bolero dancers and he incorporated the Arabesque-like designs of the hair clips into the sunglass temples.

All of Galliano’s sunglasses (each of which Galliano personally designed), feature these unique visual twists, making the collection one of the most exciting and unique entries  into the designer fashion eyewear market that we’ve seen in several years.

We can’t wait to start putting these suns on people’s faces.

The Tod’s Sunglass Collection: Inspired by Tod’s Heritage of Fine Leather Accessories

And then there are the Tod’s.

Just when we thought the Gallianos surely couldn’t be matched, Marcolin pulled out the Tod’s for us.

Best known for their luxury leather goods (including the Tod’s leather driving shoes, the Gommino loafer and D-Bag handbags), this renowned Italian luxury design house has infused its new eyewear collection with the same level of attention to detail and use of  fine materials (including leather) that mark their shoes and handbags.

While the Galliano and Tod’s eyewear collections are quite different, one thing they both share is their attention to unique shapes, designs and materials.

Particularly impressive was the way Tod’s balanced acetate and metal frames, and put some novel spins in the classic aviator.

In a clear nod to Tod’s legacy of designing and producing luxury leather products, the sunglass collection offers a line of aviators that have leather covered frames, which are simply gorgeous and will fly off the shelves, in our opinion.

There is no other sunglass on the market that we know of that literally wraps the entire frame in leather.

Like Galliano, Tod’s should be commended for providing a broad range of shapes, styles, sizes and materials in their sunglasses.

The versatility across these two collections is what makes them really attractive. We wish we had more pix of the Galliano and Tod’s sunglasses, because they really are amazing.

If it’s any consolation (and, yes we know we are being teases tonight) within a few weeks we’ll have them in the store for you to try on and experience for yourself.

We’re particularly excited to be one of only four Michigan eyewear boutiques that will be authorized to carry the new Galliano and Tod’s sunglass collections.

Nationally, availability of the line will also be constrained to a very limited number of retailers (we’re talking less than 100 here.)

The sunglass lines from Tod’s and John Galliano fit perfectly with our philosophy of offering designer and luxury eyewear product that you can’t easily find anywhere else and we know our clients will love them.

In the coming weeks, we’ll highlight more of the Galliano and Tod’s sunglasses as we get them in.

If you would like to pre-order from the collections or are interested in attending a yet-unscheduled trunk show of these two new lines, please e-mail us to placed on the the invitation list.