ge gers
EIA

Optical illusions

This season, top e

yewear designers

fancy themselves as fine jewelry

makers and artists

as well as the

creators of practical tools for seeing

DESIGNERS ARE sending
mixed messages in eyewear
this season, They flirt with
post-moders shapes and miate-
rials one minute and offer
romantic. vintage-inspired
looks the next.

By Carol Crenna
Contributing Writer

Highest-of-tech vlasses show off
the designer's ability to work with
state-of-the-art metals, plastics and
acetate on frames, and with micro-
carbon and high-density plastics on
lenses.

On elegant versions styled after
Edwardian jewelry. care is taken
with dainty details and wonderful
irridescent colors that are reminis-
cent of handblown or stained glass,
decorated with antiqued metals,
some meticulously sculpted in gen-
uine gold and silver.

In essence, top eyewear design-
ets fancy themselves as fine jewelry
makers and artists as well as ere-
ators of very practical tools for see-
ing.

Perfect examples of this are
found at Optix. 1348 Marine Dr. in
West Vancouver.

Each frame displayed in this
muscum-quality eyewear boutique
is hand-picked by owner Rita
Moore, who travels to the fashion
capitals in Europe and the U.S. to
choose items not available else-
where in Vancouver.

Exquisite eyewear-able art is
featured in both dressy and sporty
looks for men and women, ranging
in price from $135 to $495.

This store tries to offer the
newest on the market first.

Featured here are dines by cloth:
ing designer Donna Karan, whe
introduced her first evewear collec:
tion in the spring: Los Angeles:
based Roure sunglasses, which
have been on the market only since
August: bye Arlo a rear new
German Line introduced just six
months ages: and the exclusive dean
Lafont label whieh is showing an
innovative collection tor winter
“YR,

Top trends available at Optix for
winter include syannetrically
shaped ovals, narrow rectangles,
modified cat’s-eyes aad reund
frames in softer colors which take
their direction from nature.

Materials, too, become oergani-
cally inspired, in metals with new
suede-like texture in moss green,
cranberry, browned red. blueberry
und natural shades of copper.
pewter, bronze. antique gold and
burnished silver.

The plastic frames carried here
are so refined and decorative, you'll
Want to wear them as accessories
even if you have no need of speer
cles.

Transtucent shades of green.
motled blues, lilacs and raspberry
ure popular, as well as the reincar-
nated classics in tortoiseshell and
shiny jet black,

Optician Rita Moore states that,
above all trends, the choice in
styling is very personal, She stre:
es that “glasses are an essential ele-
ment for the definition of an

A person must consider eyewear
to be as important as uny other
accessory in his or her wardrobe.

Owning only one pair of glusses
defines only one aspect of your per-
sonality.

rat Mae
i

EYEWEAR-AS-ART by Donna Karan, $295, Los Angeles-based Koure, $400, Germany's Eye “rt, $345,
and Jean Lafont, $165 to $275, available at Optix, 1348 Marine Dr., West Vancouver. Driftwood sculp-
tures by Vancouver artist Brad Whiteford from his Reclaimed Visions of the Forest series.