As part of Montreal’s Fashion & Design Festival’s FMD Talks, Marie Wilkinson, the design lead for Cutler & Gross will sit down with Stephane Leduc to share her inspiring experiences on August 20th. This conference is presented by Antoine Laoun to celebrate their 10th anniversary of collaboration with the festival, and will be held in their downtown location. Marie has had the chance to design Elton John’s glasses and has collaborated with power brands such as Paul Smith and Stella McCartney. I had the chance to ask her a few questions ahead of this promising upcoming conference.
- What do you usually try to communicate through your collections?
We want to communicate that Cutler and Gross glasses are the epitome of the finest Italian craftsmanship and have irrefutably cool style. Before we start designing a new collection, we like to ‘ground’ ourselves by immersing ourselves in the Archive and asking how would Mr Cutler and Mr Gross respond to the fashion’s obsession with the 90’s, for instance, and then we proceed with our response.
With each collection we show glasses that using the latest technology from our eponymous factory, as well as using the latest lens technologies with each collection creating frames that are stronger and more lightweight and of course designed to be as comfortable as possible.
Like an architect considering the use of a building, we need to consider the optician fitting the lenses as well as the final wearer of the frames.
2. You mention in another interview that, for you, British style represents a certain wit, a lightness of touch and a refined elegance, which Manolo Blahnik, who happens to wear Cutler and Gross, embodies. Would you say that this description could also be extended to the Cutler and Gross style?
A lightness of touch was in fact a maxim of Tony Gross; he felt that the decision to edit was as important as what to add, when applied to eyewear design. When Cutler and Gross started in 1969, there were many frame factories in the UK mostly making no-frills frames for the Government’s National Health Service, but alongside this was an appetite for bespoke and more daring designs. In fact, the tradition for hand drilled and rivetted hinges came from the need to be able to repair these precious hand made frames, whilst providing an elegant decoration to the frame.
Subtle humour emerges in the form of the eccentric frames, as worn by Sting in 1989, where the opposing shape lenses play with the concept of symmetry. It has always been important to have a light-hearted and fun aspect in Cutler and Gross designs.
3. In your opinion, what is the place of eyewear in a person’s style and how many pairs should be in one’s accessory closet?
I think eyewear is as important as anything else in a wardrobe. Some people will have one frame that they wear every day and it becomes an important part of their identity, whilst others have a wider selection and pick a pair each day to suit their mood, their outfit or even their makeup look. I myself fall into the latter category but at Cutler and Gross we cater for every eyewear need!
4. What is one fact most people don’t know about eyewear, but should?
Fashion progresses at the same rate for eyewear as it does for clothing. It never used to be the case, but more recently we’ve seen a trend for an ‘eyewear wardrobe’ in the same way people would have a collection of jackets, shoes, bags and so on. A thoughtfully put together outfit always needs the addition of an amazing pair of glasses!
