Bonjour! Ça va? We are fresh… okay, not quite so fresh, but recently off the plane from Paris France where we attended an eyewear extravaganza called Silmo. One might ask, why would you travel all the way to Paris for an eyewear show when there are shows on this continent? What we enjoy about Silmo is meeting up with some of our favourite European designers who do not always have representation in North America. In the eyewear industry, Europe is a breeding ground for fashion and innovation – and Paris has been hosting this event since 1967.

Source: Flickr

We already carry some of the best independent eyewear brands, so it is a challenge to find a new line that brings something special to our boutique. After scouring the show for days looking for a quality collection that is not mass-produced and not a child of the huge corporate eyewear giants, we discovered a small, yet intriguing line called Lool.

Lool Eyewear

Lool is a Spanish company who designs all of their own machinery for the production of their frames. The tradition began in 1775 with the Free School of Design and continues today with a multidisciplinary design studio that is passionate about architecture, industrial design and graphic design. We are the first in North America to introduce this retrofuturistic brand. They have to make the frames first so we will let you know when they arrive!

Some of our other favourite designers, who we currently represent, produced some brilliant new pieces to add to their collections.

Hapter Eyewear

Hapter introduced a super cool optical capsule collection made from stainless steel and rubber (they also have awesome espresso!) We also highly recommend their culture and “how it’s made” video below.

Vinylize Eyewear

Vinylize released their INVSBLE collection. The owner Zack explained the concept to us here! Better yet, watch the INBSBLE “how it’s made” video below.

Bruno Chaussignand

Bruno Chaussignand had a creative bender and produced some amazing new shapes. We visited his shop in Montpellier and fell in love with the city. This family-run company gave us a taste of what Southern France is all about! We also included Bruno’s latest culture video.

Blake Kuwahara

Blake Kuwahara added some sleek new works of art to his ever-growing collection. He also won the Silmo d’Or design award for his model Kahn – so deserving!

Source: Luxury Eyewear Forum

Jean Philippe Joly

Jean Philippe Joly tripled his collection. We first met him 2 years ago in Paris where he showed us three prototypes. Now he’s blowin’ up! He also used one of our images from our last fashion shoot – see Bijuleni in the background.

These designers put their blood, sweat and tears into their frames (not literally) and we have so much respect for them. They bring beauty and integrity to an industry that is over-exposed and under-corrected. We love you guys – keep doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well!

See you later Paris!