Eyewear in technicolour

Frames: The Parisian spirit

Charmant’s Elle Eyewear has launched a new Made in France line, highlighting the brand’s French connections with the new collection made in Oyonnax, a town known for its acetate manufacturing. The range includes 10 new frames, including eight optical and two sunglasses, and are all named after inspiring women. Styles range from retro-inspired panto-shapes to oversized models, and a variety of styles with a cat’s eye front, celebrating the “Parisian spirit.”

Models include ‘Juliette,’ described as an ‘undeniably self-confident look’ with a thin and lightweight acetate front in a variety of colours, embellished with a glittery side detail. The frame is named after Juliette Dodu, a member of resistance in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war and the first woman to be awarded the Legion of Honor. The oversized ‘Marguerite’ frame features delicate curves with metallic details, and is named after Margeurite de Rochechouart, an abbess who dedicated her life to the restoration of the abbey of Montmarte.

The ‘Marie’ frame (pictured) offers a panto-style with a retro design and is named after Marie Curie. The acetate frame is available in a range of tortoiseshell colours and features a metallic detail, available in gold or rose gold. Meanwhile the ‘Camille’ has a cat’s eye front with glittery detail on the sides, inspired by the fireworks ‘that light up the sky over the capital on national holidays.’ Colourways are inspired by the paintings of the French artist, Camille Claudel.

Frames: Deconstructed designs

Face A Face has released a new selection of frames that explore “the art of deconstruction” to imagine new shapes, utilising cut-outs, coloured acetates and quirky details to create the eye-catching designs.

Lenses in the ‘Split’ model have the appearance of being “sliced away” at the end piece. The design is available in a square and panto style available in colours ranging from a milky blue against blue granita sides with quartz, to crystal peach and electric yellow.

The Bocca range sees the introduction of the ‘Bocca Palma,’ inspired by the art deco architecture of 1950s Florida. A large panto and softened square style are available in colours including a transparent palm green with fluorescent pink and deep lagoon green, as well as a pearly grey-blue with orange and pink.

The ‘Shift’ model has a geometric offset frame edge, inspired by raw acetate sheets bonded together during the manufacturing process. The cat’s eye panto and ‘feline’ rectangle frames feature a five-piece hinge and a heightened burnishing for a “post-industrial aesthetic.” Colours include striated amber with electric blue, and an iridescent jade with neon pink and opalescent nude.

Finally, ‘Arman’ offers a masculine design with an XXL rectangle and square shape. The style features a mix of materials, “seemingly sliced by a knife and reassembled” with a horizontal-coloured highlight and thick sides. Colours include a mosaic grey highlighted with petrol blue, and a smoke-grey tortoiseshell with tangerine highlight.

Drops: Soothing dryness and irritation

The Body Doctor has launched two new eye drops to relieve dry eye and irritated eyes, distributed by Positive Impact. Both are preservative-free, last for up to six months, and feature an innovative dispensing pump.

The Eye Doctor Daily Refresh Eye Drops contain 0.1% sodium hyaluronate and can relieve dryness and irritation caused by factors like heating or air conditioning, dust allergies and increased screen time.

The Eye Doctor Intensive Relief Eye Drops contain 0.3%. sodium hyaluronate and can relieve dryness and irritation caused by heating, air condition, smoke, dust, pollen and after surgery on the eye.

Contact lenses: Expanding availability

CooperVision has expanded the parameters available in its Biofinity XR toric contact lens range. The addition of sphere powers from ±10.50D to ±20.00D nearly doubles the number of available prescription options specific to the lens to 32,792.

The Biofinity XR toric is a fully cast-moulded and made-to-order lens featuring CooperVision’s Optimised Toric Lens Geometry. The company suggests this provides the same horizontal ISO thickness and “optimised ballast band design” as the Biofinity toric.

The company suggested this makes it easier for eye care professionals to fit astigmatic patients, with Mark Draper, director of marketing and national accounts for CooperVision UK & Ireland, commenting: “The Biofinity family of contact lenses now has over 20 times more prescription options than any other family of soft contact lenses from other main manufacturers.”

Imaging: An ultra-wide view

Mainline Instruments has highlighted iCare’s latest accessory for the Eidon range – the Eidon Ultra-Widefield Lens.

iCare uses TrueColour confocal technology to provide an increased view of the retina and high image quality. The company suggests a single image with the new lens can present 120° and takes less than a minute, while a mosaique style image can be quickly taken to show 200° in a panoramic view.

The new lens provides images in all different modalities available on the device, including autofluorescence, infrared and fluorescein angiography. The lens can be screwed onto the Eidon devices and is fully automated, which the company suggests allows the clinician to focus on the patient.

Sunglasses: On the wing

Silhouette has unveiled its latest range of Accent Shade sunglasses. Featuring protection against UVA, B and C, the range introduces two new styles – a women’s and a men’s frame, presenting rimless designs and retro shapes.

The Accent Shade range was introduced in 2019, inspired by the wings of the giant morpho butterfly, with curved, rimless lenses.

The new frame for women adds a dramatic touch to the butterfly shape with a subtle cat’s eye and soft nose bridge. The colour palette includes a lavender and blue gradient lens with glossy navy rim, while sepia lenses are contrasted with a green frame. More traditional options are available with warm gold or dramatic black lens, both with matte ink frame.

A new sporty aviator frame has been introduced for men, with a ‘70s style and rounded lens. Metallic double nose bridges contrast against dark lenses for a “slick” look. Colourways include gold bridges with black accents and mid-brown and black lenses, or gunmetal frame with all-black design features, or a mirrored-lens pair with silver nose bridges and black accents.

Lenses: True colours

Bollé has launched a new line of Volt+ sunglass lenses, in what the company says is the first ever created using artificial intelligence. Bollé tested over 20 million combinations to develop a patented solution which allows wearers to see colours more vibrantly, with a 30% colour enhancement, whilst maintaining white balance.

The company suggests the lenses also offer high contrast, improved depth perception and high-performance polarization.

Global marketing manager for Bollé, Alexandre Israel, said: “Volt+ started with a simple idea: we all want to live memorable moments and share unforgettable experiences. As we value our time outside even more, the ‘Rediscover Earth’ campaign is a vibrant message to all our community: let’s go out and embrace life.”

The lens is available in four variations: Volt+ ultraviolet polarized, Volt+ cold white polarized, Volt+ gun polarized and Volt+ polarized offshore blue. The sunglass line also includes the performance sport model, ‘Chronoshield,’ and sport lifestyle model, ‘Prime’.