Dear reader, as you know or you don’t know I’m short sighted blind as a bat since late childhood, purposely sat too close to a distorted tv set and read Sweet Valley High volumes in a torch light.  Why on purpose? I admit wearing glasses at the time in the 90s was seriously cool so cool I wanted to be part of the group, now with a heavy prescription of -6.00 both eyes are knackered when it comes to wearing plastic soft contact lenses during the day and longing to wear glasses which is rimless and fashionable at the same time rather to wear a heavy framed glasses which leaves a distinctive dent mark on my nose…not great.

I was fortunate to be invited to Silhouette‘s press event in Milan last week to celebrate the international launch of their Crystal collection, along with Wonderland magazine, Allet Ohne Schminke, Fanfarella, Kenza and other publishers.  To those of you haven’t heard of the eyewear brand (recently found out my Aunt has a pair in Hong Kong), Silhouette is an Austrian eyewear brand founded by Arnold and Anneliese Schmied in Linz, Austria 1964.  Known for their ‘passion for technology, high tech materials, craftsmanship and careful attention to detail creating comfort eyewear to meet daily.  Rimless eyewear design – without hinge, without screws and nearly weightless‘.

I didn’t know the Italians are heavy coffee drinkers when I asked for a coffee (in a British standard sized cup), the barrister gave me a small cup of espresso much to my confusion ‘Is that coffee?‘ given an odd expression I drank it down with 3 sachets of sugar.

The trend presentation by international trend expert Li Edelkoort was one of the key highlights in the event, her presentation was fascinating and very indepth.  She explained the inspiration of Earth Matters as key trend for the Crystal collection.  Here’s an extract taken from the press release which I find most interesting;

‘Crystals will shine and sparkle full of energy on the design of the future.  A magical moment in fashion and design will evolve with layered and filled fabrications in transparent qualities like organdy and nylon.  Because of their repetitive nature, crystals can take on strange and interesting formations naturally, from cubic to hexagonal to monoclinic and more.  These interesting surfaces will be recalled in future materials with effects from cloque to crinkle and lightweight, sheer or smokey qualities.  These inspirations will produce an array of luminous colours sampled as a sophiscated and feminine range of half tones that change with their ability to layer transparencies into mass’

(promo video)

International models Nadja Auermann and Helena Christensen are faces of Silhouette’s ‘Crystals. A Woman’s Passion’ collection.  Watching the models presented and wearing the rimless glasses on stage from afar was spectacular, you cannot see the glasses.  We were given an opportunity to interview the models but I came unprepared with a question for each of the ladies, Wonderland magazine has some great ones HERE and a couple of extracts from Qs&As;

”Could you see eyewear also being shown and worn on the catwalk as well?’

Nadja: Why not?  Sunglasses are already a popular accessory, even at the shows.  Prescription eyewear has barely made it onto the catwalk so far, but why shouldn’t it be shown – after all, a lot of people wear it.

‘ What’s special about eyewear and eyewear shootings?’

Helena: Eyewear is so important to so many people.  In some cases they are imperative to their existence.  Glasses have a very special significance in history.  Culture and tradition additionally play an important role, as many people – artists, above all else – have also defined themselves using eyewear.  This makes the story of eyewear even more exciting to me – it’s very much the story of the person wearing them.”

The spectacles are incredibly light….I mean really incredibly light and nearly ‘weightless’ – impressive. Crystal collection introduces their key designs; Sparkling Icon (the lightest crystal glasses in the world), Light Attraction, Gem stone and Limelight and three others.

You can try a pair of glasses using a virtual mirror on their website.

For more information on the Crystal collection, click on the link: http://www.silhouette.com/crystals

I would like to thank Silhouette and the PR team for your warmth and hospitality, I enjoyed my time in Milan.