Inspiration: The Works of Bernard Pras

Look closely, what do you see? This picture is from an installation by French artist Bernard Pras, composed of an entire room full of objects -quite remarkable and fascinating to say the least!

Slices of Inspiration: Irving Penn 1939

A little inspiration from Irving Penn circa 1939, Optician's window, New York City.

Slices of Inspiration: Jasper Johns The Critic Sees

Over a weekend getaway to Philly, S.O team member Lulu stopped by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and took in artist Jasper Johns The Critic Sees series, which was initially intended as a response to a pesky critic. 

Eyewear Obsessions: Viktor & Rolf Fall 2013

Leave it to Viktor & Rolf's Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren (two idiosyncratic designers known to place components of their own personal style on their men's runway) to make their love of spectacles even more known by placing eyeglass prints on a pair of jeans and a knit pullover for Fall 2013.

Slices of Inspiration: Russian Artist Pavel Puhov

Russian street-artist Pavel Puhov created this wonderful piece by carefully removing some of the snow next to a street light -reminding us all that creativity is free :)

Slices of Inspiration: Artist Valeria Crociata

A playfully inspiring piece from young Roman artist Valeria Crociata to brighten your spirits!

'C'est si bon' - 40+ Musical Tributes to Paris

Start your week off with a musical playlist in tribute to Paris, the city of light! 

As members of our team head back to Paris after attending Silmo, we've just updated our Youtube "C'est si bon" playlist. Call it a tribute to Paris with 43 different versions from the likes of Eartha Kitt, Yves Montand, Chet Baker, Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, even Mireille Mathieu. 

What an incredible song! "Play all" in the morning and enjoy your day...

Slices of Inspiration: Leon Dupin's Madelys

Leon Dupin, Madelys, 1929

One look at this Art Deco era poster from Leon Dupin (1929) evokes all kinds of thoughts on how endlessly cool it is from the use of choice typography to its vivid hues!

Yayoi Kusama at The Whitney

In NYC this month? We suggest taking a moment to check out the momentus Yayoi Kusama retrospective at The Whitney which bows late September. For details visit Whitney.org.

Slices of Inspiration: Richard Prince 1982

While the style of the sunglasses featured above are on the more classic side and leave little for the imagination in terms of inspiration, this early 80's image captured by celebrated artist Richard Prince speaks volumes on the instant mood enhancing benefits of a great pair of dark tinted frames.

Slices of Inspiration: 1950's Jeweled Reader-Sunglasses

From the 1950's come these genius Paulette Guinet glasses that while opulent in finishing, also do double duty while serving as both optical readers and sunglasses by wearing them reversed. Talk about smart, efficient design with a harmonious, beautiful outcome that goes far beyond the idea of statement making frames.

Happy 84th Birthday Andy Warhol

Happy 84th birthday to the late, forever inspiring Andy Warhol who also happens to be a main inspiration behind our Andy frames -pictured, a previous window from our Soho shop paid homage to the artist this past spring.

Endless Inspiration Via Pinterest

From art to eyewear to awe-inspiring pictures of all kinds, you're certain to find something that'll catch your eye on our official Pinterest page today -happy pinning!

Slices of Inspiration: 'Death in Venice' Movie Poster

From a Polish movie poster by Maria Ihnatowicz of Luchino Visconti's seminal film "Death in Venice" comes some groovy 70's-era inspiration just in time for fashion's current fascination with riotous hues and round frames.

Slices of Inspiration: Vintage Round Sunglasses From Vogue

From Vogue magazine's vast image archive comes this late 30's era Horst image featuring round white sunglasses that look completely contemporary and on par with many of today's styles...

Photograph by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, July 1, 1939

Slices of Inspiration: 1967 Playboy Cover

Today we stumbled upon this vintage Playboy mag at our Soho flagship, bet you can quickly guess what caught our eye!

Slices of Inspiration: Eyeglass Chandeliers

These genius lighting fixtures featuring reused eyewear caught our eye has they make for a purposeful yet statement making touch to just about any room and are full of humor matched with a distinctively cool attitude.

Above, most likely the easiest fixture to consider creating yourself, this design consists of 18 sunglasses spiraling around a basic light fixture.

Look at how cool this lamps shade is as it is composed of 40 mirrored aviator sunglasses and boasts an arm as a light switch -how very clever!

From Stuart Haygarth, the 'Optical' is composed of 3,000 lenses from unwanted eyeglasses.

Images via TheOpticalVisionSite.com

Slices of Inspiration: African Tribal Eyewear

From Pinterest comes this latest inspirational find featuring a pair of brilliantly executed tribal inspired customized eyewear that caught our eye in amazement immediately.

And although this gentleman's pair of frames are purely decorative, their rich beading and riotous hues make them hands-down one of the coolest frames we've seen in quite some time.

NYC Events: Schiaperelli and Prada - Impossible Conversations at The Met

Miuccia Prada captured by Guido Harrari, 1999

Before heading to the preview of Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations at The Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute, we couldn't help but think about how challenging it must have been when trying to top last year's record-breaking retrospective of the work of Alexander McQueen.

And while the McQueen tribute celebrated the late designer's deft hand at the theatrical nature of high-fashion, this year saw curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton mining through the genius work of two women designers, Elsa Schiaperelli and Miuccia Prada. Both of whom are considered to be the most influential designers of the past 100 years and share affinities beyond simply being Italian women in the field of design.

Although their creations hail from two completely different era's, displayed side by side, Schiaperelli's bold designs remain timeless and utterly inspiring. For those with an eye on high-design or those looking for inspiration, we highly suggest you visit The Met's Costume Institute this summer.

Schiaperelli captured by Cecil Beaton, 1935

Designs created decades apart from each other by Schiaperelli & Prada stand side by side in front of a short film projection by Baz Luhrmann.

Prada highlights from the past 15+ years put the spotlight on the designer's separates.

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations at The Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute runs from May 10–August 19, 2012. Visit MetMuseum.org

Slices of Inspiration: Lego Eyewear

Talk about taking fashions omnipresent color-block trend to a whole new level!

Take a cue from Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (above & below) and Lynx Optique (bottom) and consider fashioning yourself a pair of frames composed of colorful blocks of Lego's for the ultimate in playful, statement making (however unfortunately vision obscuring) eyewear this season.