At Urban Optiques, we’re always looking for the new and unusual to add to our eyewear collections.

We’re partial to small, exclusive independent boutique eyewear brands — especially those that show a high-level of commitment to producing not only exceptionally-designed eyeglasses and sunglasses, but also understand the value of quality over quantity.

So when we ran across RVS by V Eyewear, we were instantly enamored with not only the bold colors and distinctive retro-inspired shapes of the frames, but also the philosophy of RVS by V Eyewear and its owner Vidal Erkohen.

RVS Eyewear’s claim-to-fame is that they hand-make and assemble each frame from the ground up.  Based in Istanbul Turkey, Vidal Erkohen and RVS Eyewear produce their eyeglasses and sunglasses from the highest-quality Mazzuchelli acetate.  The acetate is left unpolished, producing a truly bold, unique matte finish that we simply haven’t seen on other frames of this quality in the marketplace.

When we contacted Vidal Erkohen to ask him about the possibility of stocking RVS Eyewear, he explained the company philosophy very succinctly:

“We believe it’s very important to produce eyewear for people who value quality over quantity. Each piece we manufacture is truly HANDMADE.  This does not mean they were “hand-placed in a case.”  Everything is truly made from hand:  From our hand painted-red screws, brand prints inside the temples made one-by-one, and hand-sewn satin cases;  all of our pieces are made with the goal to bring back the originality and quality that was put into eyewear of the past.”

RVS produces its eyewear like small batches of fine wine — their collection is relatively small compared to most eyewear lines, comprising 10 opthalmic frames and 11 sunglass models for a total of 21 frames.  Each model is typically available in five to six different colors.

Each RVS eyeglass and sunglass is limited to 1,500 pieces, making it extra-exclusive and ensuring that you’ll be only one of 1,000 people in the world to own any given RVS by V Eyewear piece.

While the collection has a definite vintage vibe to it when it comes to shape and production philosophy, the use of matte acetate and bold coloration puts a decidedly modern twist on the vintage shapes that Vidal employs. These are truly unique, bold and funky frames that only a few select eyewear boutiques worldwide carry. For that reason alone, we love them.

And apparently Nike, Footlocker and Amare Stoudemire love them as well:

A pair of the RVS by V “Noah” Eyeglasses in Grey were featured on NBA star (and avowed eyewear lover) Amare Stoudemire in the new Nike/Footlocker “The Educators” ad, thanks to the enterprising efforts of fellow opticans and eyewear lovers Silver Lining Optical in NYC.

Check it out, and then check out the photos of the RVS frames below the video and give us your opinion.

Regardless of what you think (or if you even care) about Lindsay Lohan’s personal-problems, run-ins with the law, probation violations and occasional crimes of fashion, Lilo has always had great taste in eyewear and sunglasses.

She’s been a die-hard fan of the Sama and Badgley Mischka lines for years — frequently shopping for eyewear at Sama’s West Hollywood and Beverly Hills boutiques.  Loree Rodkin and Sama’s Sheila Vance even created a giant, oversized sunglass –  “The Lindsay” — specifically for Lohan.

So we were kind of tickled when Lohan was spotted over the weekend shopping for eyeglasses and sunglasses at the West Hollywood Destination: Sama boutique. According to Just Jared, Lindsay had just reported to the courthouse for her probation check-in and then headed over to Destination: Sama to shop for sunnies.

Now, I’ve never had to report to a probation officer (and intend to keep it that way), but I can’t think of any better activity to do after meeting with local law enforcement than to go shopping for some new sunglasses. In fact, I can’t think of any better activity to do anytime than shop for eyewear. But then again, it’s my business.

After trying on the Badgley Mischka Boyds in Crystal, Lindsay settled on a pair of Badgley Mischka Perry aviators with Sama’s new triple gradient lenses.  But while shopping, she also was caught modeling a pair of cool, oversized black eyeglasses.

Ever since the pictures of Lindsay in the black eyeglass frames hit the Internet yesterday, we’ve had several inquiries by e-mail asking what model of frames Lohan was wearing. After careful inspection of the photos, we’ve IDed the frames as the Badgley Mischka “Grant” in either “Jet” or “Smoke.”

While the Grant is a men’s frame (Badgley Mischka was one of the first eyewear lines to have distinct collections for men and women), the Grant works surprisingly well on Lohan. Big, bold, oversized frames (especially in black) continue to be very popular with both men and women this season, and the Grant definitely fits the whole “geek chic” trend in eyewear.

No word on whether Lohan actually purchased a pair of the “Grant” eyeglasses, but we thought they looked adorable on her. You tell us: Hit or Miss?

Just in time for the Fall eyewear season, we picked up a 3/4 page Q&A in the Northville Record!

Not only were we thrilled with the coverage, but we are also extremely pleased with how well it represents who we are, what we do and what we believe sets us apart from nearly every other Metro-Detroit eyewear boutique and optometrist.

Check it out (click on the image for larger version):

Accessorizing eyewear with other pieces in your wardrobe is often less about the eyewear, and more about the rest of the outfit.

Today’s look, which again features the Loree Rodkin Hunter Special  Edition sunglasses, is the perfect example.

The first words that usually come out of people’s mouths when they see the Loree Rodkin Eyewear Collection is “edgy” or “gothic.”  And it’s true:  Loree’s distinct style of jewelry and eyewear design is rife with daggers, skulls, serpentine embellishments and crosses.

So you might be tempted to think the only way to wear her jewelry or eyewear is with a pair of leather pants and stilettos.

But as many of Loree Rodkin’s devotees will attest, her designs are combined with formal wear all of the time.  Watch the red carpet at any Hollywood or major fashion event, and you’ll likely see at least one luminary wearing Loree’s jewelry alongside their couture dress.  A quick glance at Loree Rodkin’s press book will settle any lingering doubts you might have.

The key to accessorizing the Loree Rodkin Eyewear line is to treat it like jewelry. When stylists put their clients in Loree Rodkin jewelry, they will typically use it either as a surprising contrast against an elegant or chic outfit, or will use it to amplify an already edgy look.  Because the designs are so striking, a little bit of Loree Rodkin goes a long way.

Just to prove it, we put together a look today with the Loree Rodkin Hunter that is night-and-day from the last pairing we did.

For this outfit, we built everything around a Derek Lam wool crepe dress from Saks.  While the jewelry, shoes and handbag all play off from the browns and silvers in the Hunter sunglasses, this is a daytime look that most women could pull off.  The Report Signature booties could easily be swapped with this pair of Stuart Weitzman croc slingback, the Bally Eddi pumps or L.A.M.B. Finsburys if you wanted to tone things down even more.

Of course, the real icing on the cake are the Hunters, which give this fairly conservative, but still chic, ensemble just a little bit of danger — especially when paired up with the John Hardy Naga head ring, stainless steel leather cuff bracelet and truly amazing Donald J Pilner chain satchel.

Remember, we’re giving away a pair of these exact Loree Rodkin Hunter sunglasses as part of this month’s 944 Detroit Swag.  So register now for your chance to win them.

Tell us what you think ….

A Little Bit Mild: Featuring the Hunter Sunglasses from Loree Rodkin.

Featured Accessories

• Report Signature Vandalia Bootie
• Donald J Pilner Adela Chain Satchel
• Leather and Stainless Steel Cuff Bracelet
• Derek Lam Wool Crepe Dress
• John Hardy Naga Head Sterling Silver Ring
• Loree Rodkin Hunter Special Edition Sunglasses with 18K White Gold Lenses

The final look in our “Sama Heart of Gold Sunglasses: Five Ways Over Five Days“ Style Series is all about nature.

We centered the entire look around the beautifully light and airy purple and orange Diane Von Furstenburg “Layly” Tiger dress, which puts a new, colorful twist on this season’s continued obsession with animal prints.

We tried to carry the “Au Naturale” theme through the entire look, choosing accessories that utilized natural materials like wood and cork:  Purple D Squared wood platform heels, a Tahari cork clutch and a wood and gold bangle bracelet to finish it off.

Of course, there are also the Sama Heart of Gold sunglasses, which complement the rich, royal oranges and purples that dominate the ensemble.

Enjoy!

Au Naturale

You’ve Seen this Look, Now See the Rest!

Don’t forget to check out the other four looks we put together with the Sama Heart of Gold sunglasses:

• Look One: Guilded Pleasures
• Look Two: Platinum Play
• Look Three: Day to Night
• Look Four: Street Scene
• Look Five: Au Naturale

One of the things we wanted to accomplish with our “Sama Heart of Gold Five Ways Over Five Days” was to demonstrate how exceptionally versatile these handmade sunglasses by Sama are as an accessory.

The Heart of Gold is really jewelry for your face;  so like a ring, necklace or pair of earrings, you want to know that your investment has legs in terms of how many different ways you can pair it.

The first two looks we put together were a little more opulent — perfect for a summer wedding or formal event when the days are still long and you can wear your sunglasses into the evening hours.

Today’s look is a bit more understated.

We wanted to show how you take the Heart of Gold and accessorize them with day wear — letting you transition flawlessly from the office, to lunch, to dinner without doing much more than perhaps swapping out your shoes.

The look below combines the cool whites and neutral grays of an sophisticated shirt dress from Alice + Olivia with jewelry in yellow gold, diamonds and precious stones that once again play off from the Swarovski crystals in the Heart of Gold’s temples.

If you want to tone-down the flash factor on the 24K gold plated lenses, you can always opt for the Sama Heart of Gold in “Desert” which combines the gold-plated frame shown here with a brown, non-mirrored gradient lenses.

Finally, we punched the entire look up with a fierce pair of L.A.M.B “Delva” booties which may or may not be office appropriate (maybe if you worked at Vogue?)  But they just worked so well with the ensemble, that we couldn’t resist adding them.

Don’t worry though, we’ve added a couple of additional shoe options below that should work in the office and then you can slip into the L.A.M.B.s after work for cocktails or dinner.

Day to Night

Here are several other options in terms of shoes that work well with this look:

Camilla Skovgaard “Saw” Plateau Pumps

Fendi Raffia Pumps

L.A.M.B “Zada” Sandals

For more inspiration, check out the Day One Look: Guilded Pleasures and Day 2: Platinum Play.

It’s Day Two of  our “Sama Heart of Gold Five Ways Over Five Days“  and we’re changing things up with a platinum and white gold look.

Yesterday it was all about the warm, golden hues of the Sama Heart of Gold sunglass in yellow gold,  but today we’re creating an entirely new look around the cool, sleek Heart of Gold in Platinum with 18K white gold lenses.

In the look below, we’ve paired Sama’s platinum Heart of Gold sunglass –   featuring 18K white gold couture lenses — with an amazing black Jersey dress and pair of silver python sandals from Micheal Kors.

To top it off, we added a fabulous multi-chain bracelet courtesy of Versace.

Today’s look is all about contrasting the luster of platinum and 18K white gold off against the  classic little black dress.

Check out the look below!

Platinum Play

To order the Sama Heart of Gold, please contact us at Urban Optiques.

We ran recently ran across this nice little video from Eyewearfanatic.com. Olivia Keeling interviews  Sama Eyewear co-founder Ross Vance and the video has some nice close-ups of the newest Sama sunglass models, including the simply gorgeous Heart of Gold sunglasses.

It’s also cool to hear Ross Vance talk about what makes each of the pieces unique, as well as discuss some of the design and material elements that go into Sama couture eyewear.

Check it out:

Many thanks to Olivia Keeling of Eyewear Fanatic for providing the footage.

Halle Berry is the latest Hollywood actress to be spotted in the the hottest shades on the planet: Sama.

In this picture, she’s wearing the Sama “Meret” sunglass in “Sand” — one of the latest additions to the Urban Optiques Sama Couture Eyewear Collection.

This frame is amazing and we’re not surprised Halle picked it out …

The Sama “Meret” is available in four colors: Desert, Kohl, Oasis and Sand.

If we don’t have the exact color you are looking for in-stock, we’re more than happy to special order it for you.

Give us a ring or send us an email to be one of the first to get your hands on this simply gorgeous sunglass.

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.