time out best 100 shops in london (2024)

Just blowing our own trumpet here. Time Out
appraoched us last year and said they wanted
to list us in their best shops of London.



And in March 2024 they published their top 100
and decided we were the 84th best shop in London.


a mirror, 2023

In the summer of 2023 costume supervisor
Cáit Canavan working on a production of
Sam Holcroft's A Mirror at the Almeida Theatre
in London, decided that we had the best frame
for one of the lead players, Jonny Lee Miller
who was playing the character of Ĉelik. To
accompany his black leather gloves, Cáit opted
for a 1950s American frame in aluminium with
white gold chassis.



wonderful world of henry sugar, 2023

In 2022 we were approached by a production
department to supply eyewear for several short
Wes Anderson films based of the stories of
Roald Dahl, the first of which was The Wonderful
World of Henry Sugar, starring amongst
others, Benedict Cumberbatch.


The other films in the short run were The Swan,
The Rat Catcher & Poison - all adapted by
Wes Anderson from short stories by Roald Dahl,
also starring Ralph Fiennes.



sunday times style, march 2023

FASHION

Specs appeal: how to pick the best
glasses for your face

A good pair of glasses can be the
ultimate accessory - just ask the fashion
pack, who spend as long buying the right
pair as they do their handbag




the last vermeer, 2019

In March 2018 we were asked to supply glasses
for an upcoming production of the true story
of Han van Meegeren, an art forger who with
the Dutch resistance, swindled millions of dollars
from the nazis during WWII.


The resulting film starred Guy Pearce as
van Meegeren and Claes Bang as Dutch
resistance fighter Joseph Piller and was
released the following year.


set fire to the stars, 2014

In early 2014 the costume designer for a
forthcoming film bought a 1950's Shuron
frame from our stall and asked us to have it
fitted with mineral glass sun lenses.


The result was Set Fire To The Stars, starring
Elijah Wood as poet John M. Brinnin opposite
Celyn Jones - who co-wrote the film - who played
Dylan Thomas.


toast of london, 2013

In the Summer of 2013 we were asked to supply
the eyewear for a new comedy on Channel 4,
Toast of London. The glasses were for the lead
character, Steven Toast, played by Matt Berry
who was also co-writing the series..


Matt Berry as Steven Toast in Channel 4's
"Toast of London", co-written by Matt Berry.
Costume designer, Sam Perry


address unknown, 2013

In the Summer of 2013 we were asked to supply
the eyewear for one of the main characters of Soho
Theatre's production of Kathrine Kressmann Taylor's
Address Unknown.

The designers wanted an authentic pair of reading
glasses for the character of Max, a German Jewish
art gallery owner living in San Francisco in the
early 1930's. They chose an early 20th century
gold-filled riding bow frame, in keeping for a man
of that stature and age at the time.


Simon Kunz as Max and Jonathan Cullen as
Martin in Address Unknown, adapted by
Frank Dunlop, July, 2013.


to kill a mockingbird, 2013

In the Spring of 2013 we were asked to supply
the eyewear for the main character of Harper
Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. The designers
wanted an authentic pair contemporary to the
story's post-depression era instead of opting
for an ersatz 1950's/60's pair that Gregory
Peck wore in the 1962 film. We sent a couple
of pairs and both the actor playing Atticus
Finch, Robert Sean Leonard and the production's
designer, Jon Bausor, loved the large circular
pair, made 1920's/30's, below:


Robert Sean Leonard and Eleanor Worthington Cox
as Scout in Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's
production of To Kill A Mockingbird, directed
by Timothy Sheader, May-June, 2013.