Tendenze Magazine featured Face a Face Sunglasses in a look of the season.

Face a Face Sunglasses available at ContactsandSpecs.com

One could honestly say that Jean-Francois Rey has been in the eyewear business all his life, for he was born in the Jura, the mountainous region in eastern France where many eyewear factories are located.

Rey’s parents worked in the industry and Jean-Francois, now famous for the brand that features his initials – JF Rey – has been in the business of eyewear design for over 20 years now. Rey is a very private man and a true artist who draws inspiration from many aspects of the world around him: music, architecture, past civilizations and the natural world. The Bauhaus movement and Japanese designer Issy Miake have also been strong influences.

Early in his career Rey worked as a fashion designer in Japan and the culture of that country became an influence that has stayed with him. There is clearly strong mutual admiration between Japan and Rey, for his mastery of optical design has garnered him the Best Women’s Eyewear Award at IOFT for the past two years.

Since 1991 Rey has been the unstoppable design force behind the Boz Collection, which was first recognized as an award winner in France, where it won the prestigious Silmo d’Or that same year. Boz has always been inspired by African and Asian cultures, lending a sense of adventure, travel and escape, to many of the models.

“The Boz Collection is a very feminine line that appeals to women from 30 years of age and up,” says Sarah Braida, of Montreal-based JF Rey Eyewear Canada (a.k.a. Sagi Distribution). Some models include leaves and dried flowers in the acetate frames. “Every woman will find something to love in this collection,” says Braida.

The JF Rey line, launched in 1995, is for both men and women of discerning taste. “In this, his personal collection, we continue to see the work of a designer who manages to be a trend-setter while maintaining his own, distinctive look,” says Braida. “One of the strengths of JF Rey as a designer is that he sets an inventive pace with new and different designs, not only in shapes but also in materials.”

Braida first noticed JF Rey’s work at Vision Expo 2001, in New York, and immediately fell in love with it. “I left my card and within days we met I began bringing these wonderful designs to Canada.” She and partner, Gilbert Benabou, are now part of a small, close-knit team working with Jean-Francois and his wife Joelle, both here in Canada and in France. They have brought the entire Boz and JF Rey collections to Canadian consumers.

The entire team at JF Rey Eyewear Canada is emphatic that their business is not just about selling frames to people who need a prescription filled. “JF Rey creates fashion accessories for the face,” says Braida. “The frame becomes a part of who you are, your image, and is just as much a statement as your clothes and other accessories.” Braida envisions converting contact lens users back to frames with these irresistible designs.

As to the future of JF Rey Designs, Rey sees himself continuing to push the edge of traditional materials, technology, research and design. Ever aware of what is happening in the world of fashion, as well as the world at large, he focuses on innovative technology, particularly in the JF Rey line. His wife Joelle is always searching for new and exclusive materials not usually used in the industry. She provides attention to colour and detail, often capturing the elegant finishing touch evident in the final product. With such a remarkable marriage of avant-garde design, attention to detail and cutting edge research and technology, JF Rey is certainly a name to watch in eyewear fashion. Available at ContactsandSpecs.com. Thanks to  Belinda Clarke for this article.

Blinde the HighLife

ic! berlin is an eyewear design company whose goal is to discover, develop and market new and innovative ideas. The feather-light, ultra-flexible sheet-metal eyeglasses with the patented screwless spring-hinge clasp system were the first step and are still the cornerstone of the business. Currently the line also has a plastic collection. Born in Oldenberg, Germany, the company director Ralph Anderl began his career at ic! berlin as a sales person selling sheet glass frames in 1996.
SEEING THE FUTURE “To live our vision was, is and always will be one of the most important aims of ic! berlin as we continue to live life with open eyes and recognize the new. And we will as in the past target interesting, open-minded individuals, who aren’t afraid to strike out in new directions,” Ralph Anderl emphasizes.
EYEWEAR IMPRESSIONS The 2008 ic! berlin collection will again feature patterned sheet-metal frames and more three-dimensional acetate/sheet-metal combinations. Additionally, ic! berlin has created a special collection, superfine, which consists of four bold stylish sunglasses described by the company as sexy, cool and rock’n roll inspired.
AVAILABILITY ic! Berlin is available at ContactsandSpecs.com
BY DESIGN “Our philosophy has always been to focus on an unconventional concept of a conventional object [such as eyewear], allowing it to evolve into a friend and close partner—a daily companion,” says Ralph Anderl.

Dorfler Collection: Wildehausen— named for a village in Germany