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.
We’re looking to add a couple of select eyewear and sunglass lines to our current collection this Spring.
One of the designers who caught our eye was Paris-based Francis Klein.
There are a few of reasons why we are considering adding Francis Klein to our existing eyewear collection at Urban Optiques:
First, they just make beautiful, retro-inspired eyewear that’s hand-made in Paris.
Their frames — both optical and sun — are amazing works of art made by people who are passionate about creating unique, one-of-a-kind eyewear.
Second, no one in Michigan is carrying eyewear from this little French treasure (at least as far as we know), which makes them an even better fit for our buying philosophy.
Third, we love working with independent companies that haven’t diluted their brand or product through some giant corporate distribution network. Like L’Amy (the distributor of our Lanvin-Paris and Chloé frames) and Lafont-Paris, they are a joy to work with since they don’t have some giant company making the decisions from a disconnected boardroom. These are people who get what we do and will not compromise on quality, style or service.
It’s something we really appreciate around Urban Optiques, because it’s the essence of who we are and what we stand for.
So check out some of Francis Klein’s eyeglasses and suns and tell us what you think: