OK, Mr. Cutler and Mr. Gross are Optometrists, and we at Spectacles for Humans look at the nature of this profession in US with a very long stare... Regardless, these chaps in England are different, and not just because they have an accent. They know exactly what's going on with eyewear. Here it's all about fashion. And high fashion, no less!
Their original shop dates back to early '70s and from there, the duo decided to conquer the world with their designs. Oh, they could have gone "masstige" on us a long time ago and showered all with useless imitations of the originals, but instead, they chose to be original.
With most of their frames essentially made by hand, the production is minuscule comparing to most major brands flooding the market these days. They are openly transparent about the way they make their frames and want to set themselves apart from many complicated, molded glasses that require many machine processes.
Easy to say, hard to implement. Quality labor is extremely expensive and finding craftsmen is becoming difficult. Some of the frames will be produced in Italy, where artists know their way with leather, to produce stunning pilot shapes with rim wire wrapped in luxurious hide. Others are made in France, and some travel to you from as far as Japan, because that's where the tradition of craftsmanship is the strongest today.
In short, get your face to SFH soon, before all the good stuff is snapped up by local fashion and graphic designers.
2 comments:
Sir/Madam
Your write up on Cutler and Gross (C&G) is inaccurate & far from the truth.
C&G are great at hype & getting their products into glossies by creating an aura of Made in England the old fashioned way. None of their products are made in England! Most come are Made in Italy & some now also in china. Note you will not see Made in England on their temples in case legalities screw them. Recently C&G have bought a factory in Belluno, Italy with 6 Italian workers - C&G will no doubt keep this very quite. Please research yourself by asking C&G to point to their factory in England as none exists. Sorry to disappoint you guys.
We knew it all along and that was a major obstacle for us to overcome. Their frames say nothing of where they are made, but we knew for sure that some of the products were manufactured in Italy, some in Japan, as they had distinctive and unmistakable qualities to them. Belluno,Italy?? What's wrong with that? We can only applaud and hope more frames are made there. And if some of their acetate frames are made in China... Oh well, something is gonna be made there. The quality is superb and frames have shown to be reliable and wearable.
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