KISS in John Varvatos Eyewear Spring 2014 ad campaign

Well before Miley Cyrus was showing us her tongue, New York rockers KISS were putting their taste buds on display, with better make-up to boot. Here are some striking images from John Varvatos Eyewear's Spring 2014 ad campaign. Inspired by the KISS album, Dressed to Kill, the images feature the group in full makeup wearing John Varvatos sunglasses and suits.

Cari Zalloni, creator of Cazal Eyewear: 1937-2012

"A designer eyewear line that pleases everybody is unlikely to inspire.
Good design must be thought-provoking."

...So said Cari Zalloni, the man behind Cazal, who passed away this week. Having launched Cazal in 1975, Zalloni never wavered in his quest to create "maximalist" eyewear. Adored by the hip-hop scene in the 1980s, Cazal remains one of the most iconic eyewear brands in the world and certainly one of the most revered. Vintage Cazals are arguably at the very core of the collectible eyewear market, with some original models frequently fetching four-figure sums.


I first met him in 2001 in Paris where he encouraged Rory and me to pose for our own "Clothe your Eyes" 'advert'. The resultant ad is below and the smiles on our faces, I remember, were largely down to Cari, a genuinely kind and inspirational man; a lot of fun to be around.

Cari Zalloni will be hugely missed - by his colleagues at Cazal, by the glasses industry at large, and by all the fans of his wonderful frames, a few of which we present below...

Cari Zalloni 1937-2012

Liam Gallagher's sunglasses: Slip inside the mind of Pretty Green Eyewear

Pretty Green Eyewear, as worn by Liam Gallagher. Top is PG383, above PG2576 and below PG2653. Thanks to Brillor.

DJ Adam Shelton in AM Eyewear Rick sunglasses

Here DJ Adam Shelton wears AM Eyewear, a hip Australian brand which I've been following from a while back. Simply bundles of design talent - class A. The model above is called Rick.

Les nuits sans Kim Wilde by Laurent Voulzy - Glasses feature heavily

Can anyone identify these glasses in Laurent Voulzy's very-1980s video?

Who made Kanye West's shutter glasses?

Shutter glasses, also known as Venetian blinders, were made for Kanye West by French eyewear supremo Alain Mikli. Kanye West brought them to the fore again, after a period of popularity in the 1980s, in his video Stronger. Why am I writing about them now, five years later? You'll see...

The first example I found of them being worn was in Simple Minds' 1982 video Glittering Prize below...

You'll see that the original 1980s frame above – image from my review of Moss Lipow's excellent book Eyewear and courtesy of Taschen – and the gold one in the Simple Minds video had only a narrow frame at the temples and is quite different to the Stronger aviator-shaped white pair worn by the Kanye West .

Others have made them too.

Indeed there's a company called Shutter Shades who churns them out in every colour.

And Mykita collaborated with Romain Kremer for this version, left,  in stainless steel.

But I think, partly because of his amazing blog post on how he did it, my favourite is Ch00ftech Industries who adapted a pair for 2012 New Year's Eve partying...

Ewe Year Glasses: pure new wool and perfect stitches

This time last year, I noticed that transposing two letters in Eye Wear Glasses made Ewe Year Glasses, which sounded a bit like New Year Glasses. 

In a vague attempt to justify this pun I mentioned sheep. Keen to repeat my discovery for 2012, I have again tracked down sheep-related glasses, in the shape of these Miracle Megane knitted frames. These have been made especially for Christmas by Japanese brand Miraco.They're available from Zozo and are lenses-free.

Happy Ewe Year! "Pure new wool and perfect stitches," comes from this little ditty by the Sultans of Ping FC...

Hip-hopticians: Oscar O'Maliey at Selima Optique in SoHo, NYC

Hip-hop artist Oscar O'Maliey chose Selima Optque's SoHo branch for the location of the video for his debut single 'Ques an Chârdé'...

Legend has it: Cazal 623, 856, 901 and 904

Cazal is one of the most sought after brands in eyewear. Overwhelmingly original it became a favoured hip hop brand in the 1980s and its German designer Cari Zalloni and his team continue to create "maximalist" designs, which pay little attention, if any, to dominant trends.

Here are four styles reissued from the 1980s and available now in limited editions. Top is Cazal 623, next Cazal 856, then Cazal 901, and finally Cazal 904.

Kelis in gold and black Chanel sunglasses at London Fashion Week

Photo: Jill Carin Adams, StreetStyle London

Kelis wore these Wayfarer-like sunnies last weekend at London Fashion Week, but who are they by? With thanks to Jill at StreetStyle London for the image and for her great LFW coverage!

UPDATE – 2 Oct 2011
Thanks to everyone who suggested who these were by. Julia at Gogosha Optique in LA came up trumps with Chanel. I should coco!

McClintock party time: Rock Optika launch in Covent Garden

McClintock Eyewear in Covent Garden, London, is famed not only for its superior collection of handmade glasses, but also for its parties. We've frequently turned up for our fill of glasses – of wine and of the spectacular.

McClintock last week hosted the official launch of the wonderful Rock Optika collection, as made by Tom Herrington and previewed here last month, so here are few pictures from the night...

Opening picture: Rock Optika's Key Largo. Above Bertie wears a bespoke frame made by McClintock. And below are a collection of pictures taken by Julian Cox, who's rather handy with the iPhone camera, and a few by EWG.

To get more of an idea of the lovely frames in stock in McClintock, have a look here. Finally, Dr Savage performs a poem...

Brian McGinn in his own creation. Photo: Julian Cox	Séamus McClintock in Kilsgaard. Photo: Julian Cox
Dr Savage in Rock Optika. Photo: Julian Cox	Funk Eyewear. Photo: Julian Cox
Tom Herrington in his own Rock Optika. Photo: Julian Cox	Eyewear designer Lawrence Jenkin in vintage 1980s Anglo American Optical. Photo: EWG
Hydron in Funk. Photo: EWG	Sophia in Kirk Originals. Photo: EWG

Who makes these glasses as worn by Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis?

Rather fittingly, following yesterday's stone glasses, we have received a query from James asking if I know who makes these crystal spectacles, worn here by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr fame.

We're not sure but wondered if anyone out there might be able to supply the answer...

Left, have a listen to Not Enough by J Mascis.

Ogi Eyewear and Seraphin face the musicians at Lollapalooza 2011

Ogi Eyewear and Seraphin managed to get their eyewear on to some famous faces at the Lollapalooza 2011 festival in Chicago earlier this month.

Top to bottom: Bo Koster from My Morning Jacket, Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction, Damian Kulash from OK Go, three members of The Local Natives, Fitz from Fitz and the Tantrums and finally Teri Gender Bender from Le Butcherettes.

And I can't mention OK Go without sharing this amazing video...

David Johansen and Steve Conte of New York Dolls in Ray-Ban Aviators

Ray-Ban celebrated the re-launch of the Ray-Ban Aviator with a gig at London’s Scala this week. New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen and guitarist Steve Conte (pictured middle and right) took to the stage with sunglasses in place at the Ray-Ban event, which also featured The Big Pink and Plastiscines

Ray-Ban unveiled six new styles of Aviator: Craft, Road Spirit, Tech, Titanium, Metal Glide and the limited edition Ray-Ban Aviator Ultra Gold.