Brands We Believe In

When optician Poul-Jørn Lindberg and his son Henrik set out in 1986 to create a new kind of eyewear, they weren't trying to follow trends — they were trying to solve a problem. Poul-Jørn was frustrated by the limitations of existing frames: too heavy, too rigid, too ordinary. What they created instead was a revolution in lightweight design that would earn them over 100 international design awards.

Face à Face was born in Paris in 1995 from the creative vision of Pascal Jaulent, Nadine Roth, and Alyson Magee — three designers who believed eyewear should be as expressive as the person wearing it. In a market dominated by safe, predictable shapes, they dared to treat frames as wearable art.

MYKITA's origin story is the stuff of design legend. In 2003, four friends set up shop in a former daycare center — a 'Kita' in German — in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. With more ambition than capital, they began handcrafting eyewear using a revolutionary technique: patented spiral hinges made from a single sheet of stainless steel, requiring no screws at all.

Robert Marc has been a fixture of New York City's eyewear scene since 1981, when the eponymous founder opened his first boutique on the Upper East Side. What began as a curated optical shop evolved into one of America's most respected independent eyewear brands — a label synonymous with understated New York elegance.

ic! berlin was born from a moment of pure frustration. In 1996, founder Ralph Anderl broke his glasses and, unable to find a repair that satisfied him, decided to engineer an entirely new hinge system. The result was the now-iconic screwless sheet-metal hinge — a design so elegant it can be assembled and disassembled by hand, without any tools.

Growing up as the son of legendary eyewear designer Larry Leight (founder of Oliver Peoples), Garrett Leight spent his childhood surrounded by the world's finest frames. But when he launched his own brand in 2010 from Venice Beach, he wasn't interested in recreating his father's legacy — he wanted to build something that felt like his generation.

Sabine Bégault-Vagner spent years in the French eyewear industry before launching her own brand in 2014 with a simple but radical idea: eyewear should make you smile. In an industry that often takes itself too seriously, Sabine Be arrived like a burst of confetti — joyful, colorful, and unapologetically bold.

Press Eyewear is the newest brand in our collection, launched in 2024 by Jeff Press — a veteran of the optical industry who spent years working with some of the biggest names in eyewear before deciding to create something entirely his own. The result is a brand that combines deep industry knowledge with a fresh, contemporary perspective.

SALT. — Sea, Air, Land, and Timeless — was founded in 2006 by three friends united by a love of the California coast and a belief that eyewear should be as effortless as the lifestyle it represents. Taylor Whisenand, David Rose, and Ron Smith created a brand that captures the golden-hour warmth of the Pacific Coast in every frame.

Elizabeth Faraut founded LaLoop in 1999 with a mission to transform one of eyewear's most overlooked accessories — the eyeglass chain — into something genuinely beautiful. What had been a purely functional (and often unfashionable) item became, in her hands, a piece of jewelry that happens to hold your glasses.

Bevel was founded in 1999 by Richard Mewha and Rick Nelson, two New York designers who believed that great eyewear should combine minimalist architecture with vibrant, cosmetic-inspired color. The result is a brand that's quietly become one of the most respected names in independent optical.

L.A. Eyeworks is the original rebel of independent eyewear. Founded in 1979 by Barbara McReynolds and Gai Gherardi in Los Angeles, the brand emerged from the city's vibrant art and music scene with a radical proposition: 'A face is like a work of art. It deserves a great frame.'

Lunor was founded in 1991 by Gernot Lindner in the Swabian Jura region of Germany — an area with a centuries-old tradition of precision manufacturing. The brand's name combines 'lunette' (French for small moon, a term for round spectacles) and 'or' (French for gold), perfectly capturing their devotion to classic round eyewear crafted with precious attention to detail.