I get my inspiration from vintage designs and I like to remix those with a very personal avant-garde rock and electronic touch,” shares French eyewear designer Thierry Lasry.
This unlikely design concept, which he calls “futuristic vintage,” may sound too edgy if not downright kooky to the uninitiated. But one thing’s for sure: his pieces make a statement in an accessories market teeming with bug-eyed designer sunglasses.
For one, Thierry seems to have been born to rock the accessories world. “With an optician for a father and a designer for mother, I’ve been raised in a world in which style and eyewear was one and the same. In this favorable background, I quickly developed a liking for design and put it into practice,” Thierry says.
“I started designing eyeglasses in 2002 and I realized that the sunglasses market is dominated by the big designers names and the licenses. I saw a demand for a new high-fashion brand, so I decided to launch my own sunglass collection.”
He released his first collection in 2007, and in a year, his instincts have been proven right.
Currently, his line is available in about 30 countries — from all over Asia to Saint Barth, Sweden, France, UK, Lebanon, the US and Canada.
His designs are stocked in upscale specialty stores like Henri Bendels, Browns London, and On Pedder, while his work has been featured in magazines like Vogue UK, Officiel, Elle, W and WWD.
“In 2008, I had about one editorial per day,” Thierry shares proudly.
But he also opines that he still has his work cut out for him.
“Sales and press are two different things. Sales are just starting, though the line has a lot of prestigious accounts in the world, it’s only the beginning. I am just getting organized with several showrooms worldwide, in the US, UK and soon in Japan, and the distribution should really expand worldwide and get much more prestigious accounts.”
”As for the press, it’s been magical lately I’ve got to say, but — same thing — it’s only the beginning. The more exposure in fashion magazines you have, the more requested you are.”
Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored that the 31-year-old designer has quite a following among celebrities, models and even fellow designers like Peter Som and Erin Fetherston in such a short span of time. His secret? “A very good network, of course, but especially the fact that no collection on the market is taking as much risk as mine.”
It also helps that though his designs play with prints, color and symmetry, his pieces, no matter how bold, remain fashionable season after season. Rather than come up with an entirely new collection each season, he builds on previous collections by adding a couple of new colors and designs.
Among his many designs he names two as his favorites: “The Pimpy — very big asymmetric sunglass with a very specific ‘80s design — and of course the Happydazy — ‘clubbing’ sunglasses with one eye in clear acetate and 250 hand-set Swarovski crystals.”
Each pair of Thierry Lasry sunglasses is handmade in France using high-quality acetate and retails for 300 euros or $450 on the average.
While his sunglasses are mostly designed for women, a men’s collection is on its way for spring/summer 2010.