Sheila Vance, Founder of Sama Eyewear announced today the collaboration creating a new eye couture collection Thomas Wylde, the Los Angeles based fashion brand
Bringing together the best in innovation and design, Thomas Wylde Eyewear by Sama is set to launch for summer
2016. An independent eyewear brand, Sama has been a leader in the field for over 20 years incorporating breakthrough technology and the finest raw materials to create cutting edge designs and push production boundaries moving the industry along with their craft. Interview Magazine and the late Ingrid Sischy declared Sheila Vance one of the 21st Century’s “Creative Visionaries” for her contributions to design. At her atelier in Los Angeles, Ms. Vance designs on and off screen for moguls and movie stars including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Eva Longoira, Debra Messing, Lenny Kravitz and Chris Brown amongst them.
The house of Thomas Wylde, celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2016, has never been afraid of breaking established codes. With its laser focused vision and a modern ethos, the brand aesthetic is sleek, strong, mysterious and often even androgynous but still sexy. Simple shapes, flawless fit, angles and details, proportion, materials and quality are all key to the construction of every garment.
Ms. Vance looked into the decade of archives to develop the concepts and keep the true intrinsic DNA of their brand for the eyewear range. “For this collaboration to be done right, it was key to dive into the brand to understand the artistic approach, avant guard mood and materials so we could adapt elements and incorporate the right approach, she said.
“New designs and shapes were created as well as an interesting range of applications, finishes and technology components that truly represent the best of our capabilities for Thomas Wylde”, said Vance Technology in fabrics and finishing details – both delicate and bold — have been a cornerstone for the brand, which develops their own custom dyed prints on double silk georgette from France, and works the softest supple leathers into day into evening. For their Spring/Summer “tough meets tender”
Collection necklines plunged, hemlines were juxtaposed, and bold femininity represented a study in converging contrasts. For Sama that was the most exciting part of the creative process and its greatest challenge.
“Adaptations from fashion to eyewear are often missed opportunities where logos or mass production materials too common in the marketplace overshadow essence of the brand they are supposed to represent”, according to Vance. “We wanted to truly compliment and add to the Thomas Wylde brand as an extension of brand communicating the same message and vision as collaborative partners,” she added.
Thomas Wylde Eyewear will showcase the newest fashion approach to eyewear and appeal to the international market. The collaboration with Sama will mirror the mostly a neutral palette paired to the collection from midnight and opal to nude and dusty rose with some customized zyl colors and opaque marbleized plastic, Ms. Vance used mixed mediums like leather, metal, horn and innovations from laser cutting to multi-layered inlay processes and exclusive lens applications for new effects. She also included very bold, oversized shapes, new geometric configurations and interesting angles, developed with custom molds and tooling in japan to properly create a new level of premium luxury eyewear parallel to the Thomas Wylde brand.
“Thomas Wylde has always been known for a truly forward thinking approach to design, and appealed to the global marketplace, said John Hanna, Thomas Wylde’s CEO. “We were looking to expand the brand in the best categories, but not compromise the integrity of design,” he continued. ”We wanted to work with Sheila because as our brand is pushing our design team to elevate the ordinary to extraordinary we needed a designer in optical who is known for creating truly extraordinary product in their marketplace and we found that with Sama,” added Jene Park, creative director of Thomas Wylde.
