Making waves

Spectacles: Fashion forward

Levi Strauss & Co has launched its new eyewear collection in Europe, designed and manufactured in partnership with Safilo Group. The collection includes a range of 16 sunglasses and 19 optical frames and is specifically designed to appeal to generation Z consumers. Styles range from square models to retro-inspired frames, while colours include a range of blues, inspired by Levi’s denim line, as well as gold and orange mirror lenses and classic black, brown and grey tones.

The collection also includes a range of frames made from Hexetate, a patented acrylic resin with stronger technical and mechanical properties than acetate, which the company suggests make for lighter, comfortable and more stable frames.

Spectacles: London luxury

Sunglasses brand, Taylor Morris, has launched its first full optical collection in a range inspired by, and named after, South West London. Frames include the Windsor rim SW12, to an optical variant of the classic rollright style, which was one of the first frames the brand designed. The full collection is available at the Taylor Morris Space in Notting Hill and online. 

Sunglasses: Summer hues

Monokel Eyewear has released its Spring/Summer 2020 collection, with plant-based tortoiseshell and recycled black acetate frames at the centre and new seasonal hues including transparent red and deep purples. The collection features a range of twists on the cat’s eye shape with the ‘Moon’ (pictured), ‘Hilma’ and ‘June’ models, while the ‘Otis’ and ‘River’ sunglasses offer lightweight frames and sharp angles. 

Sports: Into the blue

Bollé has launched a new sport lifestyle model, Vulture, offering protection for activity and daily use. The frame is designed in a medium fit, features integrated side shields and Thermogrip hydrophilic rubber inserts on the temple tips and nose pads for fit and comfort.

Performance of the frames is improved by a series of lens treatments, the company suggests, including the latest Bollé lens innovation, Phantom+ which includes a polarising filter to provide extra protection against glare. Bollé suggests this makes it ideal for water sports, including sailing. It also includes anti-fog, hydrophobic and oleophobic (dirt repelling) treatments.

Lenses: PRO Tech lenses

Bausch + Lomb has announced the European launch of its first extended depth of focus intraocular lens (IOL), LuxSmart, and a new monofocal IOL, LuxGood, both featuring preloaded delivery systems.

The products both utilise what the company calls “pure refractive optics (PRO) technology,” a design based on refractive profiles with no diffraction areas, which the company suggests means patients are less likely to experience dysphotopsia. A toric version of the platform is set to be made available later this year.

LuxSmart and LuxGood also feature proprietary acrylic hydrophobic cross-linked copolymer material with an ultraviolet absorber, protecting the eyes against ultraviolet light.

Sunglasses: Colour lovers

Marcolin has shared a new capsule collection from Guess with music artist J Balvin, inspired by his March album Colores. The Guess x J Balvin Colores collection features three styles ranging from the GU8224 (pictured) with a squared shape, to the rectangular and narrow GU8225, and the GU8226 feminine cat’s-eye.

The collection is available in colours including Havana blue acetate and orange crystal acetate, Havana green acetate and green crystal acetate, Havana amber and light crystal acetate.

Materials: Tidal trends

Inspecs has created a new sustainable frame for O’Neill, called Wove. The new frames form part of a wider initiative run by O’Neill, BLUE, which aims to reduce ocean plastics and have a positive impact on the planet. The Wove frames are created from recycled ghost fishing nets (those lost or left in the ocean) with mineral and recyclable glass lenses, and touchpoints made of recycled rubber. The hangtag is water-soluble, while the sunglasses case is also made from recycled plastic bottles.