one1one magazine
It's clear that fashion plays a big part in Randhawa's life and career. “I love that I get to bring my two greatest passions together; science and fashion,” she says. “As the owner, I enjoy the freedom that I have to do what I want, which translates into me bringing in collections that are sometimes avant garde. I can push the boundaries when I want to. It's about having the confidence to trust my own instincts because in some cases what I bring in is based on my own personal style.” The conversation moves to her personal inspiration; what inspires her in work and in life in general. “The talent in Vancouver inspires me. So much. I'm an avid supporter of the fashion scene here and the talent that we have is amazing. Designers like Kim Cathers, Nicole Bridger, upcoming designers like Evan Clayton. Young people working hard to achieve their goals and dreams inspires me. It's wonderful to see that.” I'm curious to know just how much trends in other industries, such as fashion, design and the economy can affect trends in eyewear so I ask her what she thinks of trends overall. “I think trends make life a little bit easier for people, because it gives them a quick insight into what is happening,” she says. “Yes, I look at the trends, I wouldn't be able to forecast what's going to sell in my store a year from now otherwise, but it's about taking the trends and incorporating them and making them work for my clientele. Style is more personal and that's what I get behind. Style is one's own. True style isn't affected by trends, it doesn't change season to season.” And currently? “We're seeing trends from the 1920's made popular by the Great Gatsby – the round tortoiseshell frames are a classic. Designers like Anne et Valentin and Lafont are well experienced in those shapes. We're seeing the horn-rimmed frames of the 40's and 50's. Claire Goldsmith has gone into her archives to re-release these original shapes. My favourite, the cat eye shape, continues to be strong and nobody does it better than Theo. And Andy Wolf has put the 1980's back on the map with larger shapes which the 20-something crowd is loving.” Although eyewear trends mimic trends in fashion, they seem to go above and beyond it as well. “Trends in design and in the economy definitely have a bearing on the eyewear world,” Randhawa explains. “With
|
people being more environmentally conscious we're seeing frames made of recycled materials like wood and horn.” Tying into the subject trends, we move on to the idea of people seeing glasses as more of an accessory as opposed to simply a functional object. “I like the fact that more and more people are seeing glasses as an accessory because it is the first thing that people see on your face. It can set the tone, it's an extension of yourself so yes, you can have glasses that fade away but you can also have glasses that accentuate your features and that's what I keep going back to. It's nice to help people develop their own style,” she says. As for what the general public think of glasses as an accessory, Randhawa brings up a fairly recent transition that she's noticed within the sunglass industry, as sunglasses were the first to make the transition from a purely functional item to an important fashion accessory. She moves on to talk about how that concept has slowly trickled into regular eyeglasses with the popularization of the 'hipster' frame. “It took a little time but we've seen it strongly in the last five years or so. It's become what people put on to look cool or to go out. People wear glasses with clear glass or with no lenses at all and that's really cool to see.” As our interview comes to a close I ask Randhawa if she has any final thoughts and she sums it up perfectly: “When people come in to see me it's about the experience from the moment they walk into the store. People might not remember what you said to them, or how you said it, but they are going to remember how you made them feel. And I make them feel special.” I can personally vouch for that. www.theopticalboutique.com www.facebook.com/theopticalboutique www.twitter.com/opticalboutique www.instagram.com/theopticalboutique
63