behind the lens
"Nothing else you wear is more integral to your look. Glasses are your uniform, worn everyday, no matter the weather. They’re an identity card that sum up and show off your personality.
Whether you’re an extravagant Earle or a vivacious Vita our custom-made frames allow you to choose your style and colour so that your personality can do the talking. And if you’re not quite sure where you sit on the spectrum, there’s time to deliberate as you can try two pairs at home before taking the plunge.
Do you dare to let your glasses wear the trousers?
eye-opener
Half-lens bifocals date back to the 1700s and are generally credited as the invention of Benjamin Franklin. Alternative sources date back earlier to the 1200s when they worn by monks and scholars. They have, however, been lost in time since the invention of the seamless or ‘invisible’ bifocal by Irving Rips in 1955, the precursor to all progressive lenses.
‘original bifocals reimagined with a modern twist’
eyevolution
They have since be revived and reimagined.
Caren Downie, our founder, stumbled upon a pair in a vintage store in Camden four years ago. Having discovered specs that immediately improved her day-to-day, Caren was desperate for another pair. The difficulty was that they were hard to come by so she looked into developing them herself — you know what they say, if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself!
Around the same time, her specs started receiving a lot of attention from admirers. The penny dropped and ByOcular was born.
eye-sculpture
Our frames are hand carved using only the best plant based acetate from Italy. The finest materials deserve the finest manufacturing process. This can’t be rushed, which is why our specs take eight weeks to make. It’s a pretty complicated process and one that you don’t have to worry yourself about — needless to say it involves a lot of craftsmanship. We even hand polish the frames several times over to make sure that the colours have enough depth and lustre so that you can treasure them for years to come.
‘people make passes at those who wear half-glasses’
our eyecons
They are now being worn by a number of other fashion revolutionaries including Debbie Moore (Pineapple Dance Studios), Heti Gervis (Heti’s Colours), Vikki Brown (Lead Buyer at Michael Kors), Hannah Almaasi (Editorial Director at Who, What, Wear), Ruby Chadah (India Fashion) and contribute to our blog series our eyecons with some of fashion’s game changers.
contact
For any enquiries please contact:
Caren, Shaun or Nigel
For PR enquiries please contact:
Todd Watkins. Preditor PR