Nyc, Our Four Day Sample Sale at Bond 07 has begun!

The Sale has started! For those of you in Nyc, come by and check out the goods featuring over 500 pairs of unique frames at must-have price points. Plus, in addition to our sample sale, all regular priced frames are 20% off until Sat evening(Bond st location only)!

 

 One of the tables at our curated sample sale full of covetable frames of all kinds at 07 Bond st. Nyc, Ny 10012.

Computer Love: Holiday Shopping Made Easy at SelimaOptique.com

 

It's Cyber Monday, marking one of the most convenient ways to get your holiday gift-giving self into motion.

And from us, finding that perfect, elusive pair of frames has just gotten easier with the re-launch of our website. Check out our web-shop if you can't make it in store to find a practical and timeless however fashion-forward gift for your friends & loved ones today at SelimaOptique.com.

Vintage Eye: 80's Maurice St. Michel Color-Blocked Sunnies

From our extensive collection of vintage frames comes this graphic pair of 80's era Maurice St. Michel sunglasses that are the perfect addition to fashion's color-blocked trend this season. Try them on for yourself today at our Bond 07 location or request a viewing appointment through our website.

And if vintage is not for you, take a look at our contrasting Virginie frames that boast a timeless shape in navy & tortoise.

80's Maurice St. Michel Sunglasses, available at our Bond St. location and by special order worldwide.

Contact us for more info.

Chad Frames: Back-in-Stock Early December

Thanks to a certain dashing young actor using his personal frames from our range to compliment his character's looks, we've had a wave of interest in our best-selling Chad & Money frames. Not that we are about boasting here, we simply wanted to let you know that our Chad frames will be back in-stock early December just in time for the holiday season.

Add your name to the wait list today to ensure holiday delivery by contacting us at info @ SelimaOptique.com

Ryan Gosling in his Chad frames, above.

Selima Optique's Holiday Playlist

With the busy holiday season here, the team at Selima Optique has culled a playlist of some of our favorite tried & true tunes to get you through the times. Whether you are traveling, kicking back at home with friends & family or just in need of something new to hear, we hope you enjoy the tracks below.

The Majestic Arrows "If I Had A Little Love"

Serge Gainsbourg "Love On The Beat"

Telepathe "Throw Away This"

Elli Medeiros "Toi Mon Toit"

Lizzy Mercrier Descloux "Fire"

Moon Duo "Killing Time"

Malcolm McLaren "Madame Butterfly"

James White & The Blacks "Contort Yourself"

Mott The Hoople "Roll Away This Stone"

Work from Robert Longo, above.

Selima Optique NYC Sample Sale 11/30 to12/3

Just in time for the holidays comes our annual sample sale perfect for the gift giving season and the collector in you!

What: Selima Optique Sample Sale featuring handmade Selima Optique eyewear & hats and frames from Alain Mikli, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci & Tom Ford as well as a large assortment of unique vintage frames.

Where: Bond 07 by Selima Optique at 7 Bond St. Nyc 10012 

When: Wednesday, November 30th to Saturday, December 3rd 

From - 11am to 7pm

 Selima Optique  |  7 Bond St.  New York  NY  10012 |  P: 212.677.8487   http://SelimaOptique.com

Slices of Inspiration: 70's Pierre Cardin Signature Frames

This week's pair of inspirational frames happen to speak volumes on the genius of Pierre Cardin as they make for the coolest set of bold logo statement makers and strike a chord with the designer's preoccupation with space-age design. Can you imagine how fun it would be to own a pair of these? We can... and we are on a mad hunt for them now!

Auction Exclusive: Bid to have custom frames made for a cause!

Visit CharityBuzz today for an exclusive chance to have a pair of custom handmade frames created just for you in benefit of preserving Tibet's unique culture with Tibet House.

Keep your eye on the auction as it ends Tues. Dec 13th!

Nolita No More: Au Revoir Ray's Pizza

We are sad to see the one and only Ray's Pizza(and our old neighbors) close after over 50 years in business. Ray's was a landmark that started a slew of copycat pizzeria's boasting similar names(49 in 2011 according to Wikipedia) and was something casual, light, and most of all familiar, posessing all the makings of an institution. A simple pizza shop it may have been, but to us it also signifies the changing commercial climate of this city's Nolita neighborhood and the constant evolution of our streets. 

Ray's we will miss you, and Nolita, we are still neighbors!

Prince st before(above, with old Selima Optique crew member Kenneth standing outside) and Prince st. after:

Vintage Eye: 80's Yves Saint Laurent Angular Sunglasses

From our vintage archive come our latest vintage frames of the week from 80's era Yves Saint Laurent that lend a sci-fi and super cool update to what one normally associates with traditional tortoiseshell. Brass details, an exaggerated browline and a rimless lens piece make these truly statement making, unique & highly covetable. Try them on for yourself today at our Bond 07 location or request a viewing appointment through our website.

80's Yves Saint Laurent Angular Sunglasses, available at our Bond St. location and by special order worldwide.

                                                                 Contact us for more info.

The Holidays Chez Selima on J.Crew.com

Selima shares her thoughts on the holidays with collaborator J.Crew as well as items on her gift wishlist, here's a preview:

Visit J.Crew to see the full spread...

Arts Watch: Selima Optique's Amanda Browder

On a recent visit to our Soho location, our directrice Selima was amused by the colorful and imaginative installations that Selima Optique crew member and artist Amanda Browder had installed throughout the shop. What immediately struck her was the pop of juxtaposition between Browder's work and the shop's own old-school gilt frames and ornate accommodations.

It brought to mind Murakami's groundbreaking show at Versailles where his colorful characters & works were housed within the confines of the institution's rigidly glamorous bourgeois-chic halls. Which made Selima chuckle and retort that "this is not Murakami, and we are not in Versailles." True, our Soho location obviously can't compare, but it does speak volumes on the kind of improvisational, felicitous nature that is central to Browder's work and left us curious about what she does. We sat down and created a short q&a for her, enjoy!

Q: How did you meet Selima & crew?

A: I met Selima at Silmo(optical show) in France about six years ago while working in Chicago at an optical shop that carried her line. Coincidentally, I was sporting a pair of her Liam frames...old school!

Q: What brought you to NYC?

A: After teaching at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for six years, and selling eyewear on the side, I decided it was the time to make a move and see what NYC could offer me as a practicing artist. I had no idea what to expect and moved here without any plan. What I found was a fantastic community of creative people working on all levels of unique work. From eyewear to contemporary art, I found more and more people using every creative outlet they had to make a living and to create new and exciting artistic projects.

Q: What & who inspires your work?

A: As a kid I read a lot of comic books that I collected with my dad who blended R.Crumb, the Fabulous Freak Brothers and Donald Duck into one collection. Their bright colors and fantastical stories inspired me to cross the line between fantasy and reality. I wanted to make what we see as awe-inspiring and shocking into something real and tactile. Artists that inspire me include Louise Bourgeois, Mike Kelly, Jessica Stockholder and Polly Apfelbaum.

Q: Work wise, what's a dream goal/project?

A: My goal is to keep working big! Building facade installations are just a beginning! I enjoy working with local communities and connecting with people I might not have met via the art world. I'm also working on a new large-scale public art piece set to debut April 2012 in Brooklyn! I have a student from London who is coming to work with me in the Spring and we plan to construct a new public art piece together. I'm also looking forward to Lucky Magazine featuring my Logs and Fire in their winter issue!

Visit Browder's site for more info: www.amandabrowder.com

From bottom to top: a portrait of Amanda amidst our art filled wall, a large scale fabric chain-link piece hangs from the ceiling, Browder's Logs & Fire atop a display case- all at our Soho flagship. A customized Future Phenomena facade in Greenpoint Brooklyn(NY 2010) and Amanda Browder in a pair of our Amanda frames.

Specs Appeal: The New Book Eyewear

Fellow eyewear designer Moss Lipow discovers the history of eyewear from their humble, practical minded beginnings to their meteoric rise as an impression making fashion accessory in his new book Eyewear.

As a designer, collector & enthusiast Lipow combines his first-hand knowledge and curated collection of eyewear with an insightful look at the evolution of eyewear for this just released tome that should serve as an end-all reference for all things optical.

Featuring 1,000 optical images with frames that span 500 years, Lipow has culled information from a variety of sources including ancient texts, old catalogues, vintage magazines, and out-of-print publications of every kind.

Eyewear by Moss Lipow is available now at Taschen.com

Arts Watch: Lisette Model ‘Reflections’

On a recent trawl through Chelsea, New York’s art gallery packed westside neighborhood, came the discovery of Bruce Silverstein Gallery’s “Reflections: The Expressionist Origins of Lisette Model,” an inspiring visual retrospective featuring an edited collection of the late artist’s work.

Model’s use of reflective layers to combine cityscapes and civilians candidly shuffling about through New York City during the 40′s offers a romantic, nostalgia inducing and even slightly haunting look at the city that also sheds light on the work of some of her most renowned students, Diane Arbus and Peter Hujar.

Paired with works on paper by artists including Max Beckmann and Lyonel Feininger, and accompanied by a recording of Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire,” the gallery’s back room is dedicated to postwar cabaret elements featuring Model herself breaking a note. And though that made for an enriched experience, it was the journalistic nature of Model’s work combined with her improvisational techniques that made it such a special encounter.

Now through Nov. 12 at Bruce Silverstein Gallery 535 West 24th Street, Chelsea

Works from Model above & below.

Slices of Inspiration: Early 90's Chanel Frames

For Selima, inspiration can come from the most surprising and curious of places, from vintage frames & pictures to the odds and ends of everyday life. Including this early 90's pic featuring truly outre Chanel accessories, best of which are the humorous take on the house's iconic double-c logo that make a graphic, witty statement on the possibilities of extravagant excesses.

And while celebrating the excess of fashion isn't really a part of Selima's repertoire(she's a bit more subtle & coy no?), there's no debating the over-the-top cool allure found in this find. See if you can make a guess as to what inspired Selima when designing her namesake frames by visiting our online shop today!

Selima Optique at OPTIX in Berlin - Anständige Brillen für Anständige Menschen!

The crew at Selima Optique is always delighted when we receive updates from our retailers and adore this image OPTIX of west Berlin sent of their Selima Optique feature window to us over the weekend. 

Located in Berlin's vibrant west neighborhood for 19 years, OPTIX is situated amidst Berlin's trendy scene of cafe's, markets & shops and works with the mantra "proper glasses for proper people" or "anständige brillen für anständige menschen."

Visit OPTIX when shopping for eyewear in Berlin:

Kleiststraße 43
10787 Berlin
Tel:  +49 (0)30 216 77 19
Fax:  +49 (0)30 217 04 12
info@optix-berlin.de

Vintage Eye: Rare 80's Christian Dior Amber Sunglasses

From Selima's collection of collectible vintage eyewear comes our favorite vintage frames of the moment, these 80's era Christian Dior sunglasses that come in a warm, soothing amber hue. What makes them distinctive & timeless besides their shape and colorway is the subtle brass detailed browline that hearkens back to old-school Hollywood glamor while striking a chord with today's more urbane minded sartorial cues.

80's Christian Dior Sunglasses, available at our Bond St. location and by special order worldwide.

                                                                 Contact us for more info.

Reconvilier Pops-Up at Selima Optique Madison Avenue

This Friday marks the U.S debut of heritage watch firm Reconvilier, the true connoisseur’s go-to fine watch maker, as they set-up shop at our Madison Ave. locale for a limited running pop-up from 11/4/2011 to 1/18/201. 

Stop by and discover Reconvilier, known for blending innovative thinking with the tradition of fine Swiss watch-making since 1905. Reconvilier artfully combines strength & functionality with classic design & understated elegance.

  

10% of the proceeds from the pop-up shop will be donated to Action Against Hunger / ACF. This includes Selima Optique frames in addition to Reconvilier Timepieces.

Visit Selima Optique Madison at 899 Madison Ave to preview the range in person and visit  Reconvilier.com for more info.