RETROSUPERFUTURE | SUPER

SUPER, by RETROSUPERFUTURE®, ignited the phenomenon of acetate sunglasses. They are made in multiple color graduations, which has generated a big trend starting in 2007. Super is the 1rst brand to produce a complete range of colorful fashion sunglasses combining these characteristics together with a very high quality manufacturing process. SUPER sunglasses are made to the highest possible standards, hand made in Italy by the best manufacturers and with the best materials. For this reason, SUPER also decided to adopt ZEISS lenses, which guarantee an extremely high level of protection to the eyes in all conditions. Since their introduction, artists, celebrities, sports athletes and trendsetters have been wearing SUPER sunglasses. Kanye West, Daft Punk, Who Made Who, Justice, Pedro Winter (and his “Ed Crew”), Simian Mobile Disco, CSS, St. Vincent, The Kills, Elio Fiorucci, Sienna MIller, Jessica Alba and Valentino Rossi are just a few who have been seen sporting a SUPER.

Offcially launched in spring 2007, SUPER is today currently distributed in over 350 shops worldwide. You can find them in some of the most infuential trend leaders stores such as Barneys New York, 10 Corso Como in Milan, Bodega in Boston, Fred Segal in Los Angeles, Steven Alan, Paris Texas in Denmark, Caliroots in Sweden and many others.

The 1rst year SUPER has been featured in the most prestigious international magazines like Vogue (USA), i-D (UK), WAD (France), NY Times (USA), People Style Watch (USA) as well as hundreds of online blogs including High Snobiety, Hype Beast, Josh Spear and SlamXHype.



During the 1rst two seasons SUPER has also enjoyed important collaboration projects. Special limited edition sunglasses starting with Caliroots by Super produced only 50 units (soldout in 3 days), Barneys NY by Super produced only 100 pieces, and the Alife by Super have been featured as the product of the day at the Bread & Butter Barcelona tradeshow in Summer 2008.

Some press snippets:

HIGHSNOBIETY:
The new sunglass brand Super out of Italy continues to impress. We have reported about them right from the start and Caliroots was the 1rst to have them and the only one selling them online. The sunglasses are handmade in Italy and feature top quality Zeiss glasses.

HYPEBEAST:
Created by the people at Pig Magazine, Super Sunglasses are an Italian brand that features hand-made shades with the use of German Zeiss lenses for maximum protection against the harmful UV rays from the sun. They offer a classic-styled frame in a variety of different colors to suit your tastes.

WGSN:
Super sunglasses hit the Milan scene in a big way this summer and as the rest of the world catches on, are set to continue as a must.have item.

JOSHSPEAR.COM
Top Five Fashion gifts: Retrosuperfuture sunnies seem to run a little bigger than the other eighties throwbacks we’ve been seeing these days… so of course we like them a little better. The Zeiss lenses don’t hurt one bit, either.

REFINERY29.COM
… what better way to salute the carefree days of the season than with a pair of the most buzz-worthy and color-conscious shades around? Super…

THE STORY BEHIND:
Daniel Beckerman is the founder of SUPER by RETROSUPERFUTURE® also publishers, with his brother Simon, of PIG Magazine, the most prestigious independent music and fashion magazine in Italy together with PIG Radio, one of the most infuential indie music web-radios on the net.

The idea came out from Daniel when he realized that there was no eyewear brand that was representing a certain type of fashion culture:

“All the company’s that are in the market today are leaded by people that are interested in different, standard and established markets as D&G, Armani, Gucci ecc. What about all the other street couture brands? Together with this nobody was playing fun in eyewear like the great expressions you can see in the clothing business. All shades were black, tortoise, grey and maybe some white or red, that’s it… where are the shades for me and my friends?!?!”

At this point Daniel asked Simon, one of the undiscussed more infuential and forward thinking personality in today’s market, and Sean Beolchini the unmissable piece of the team, to follow him in all of the creative aspects that Super had to face. The Flea markets has been a great inspiration, not otherwise Sean, before Super, had alywas a different shade for the different moods of the day. The problem was that most of them are very bad quality and eye protection is important, something that many people do not underestimate.

The business strategy, if there was one, became to give people something that was the best quality product at the most reasonable price.

Luckily the home of the team was Italy, the best country in which to produce sunglasses. Together with the best manufactures Super has teamed up with one of the most well known german lens company: Zeiss Sunlensess division, that after a 1rst look, joined enthusiastic the project. The 1rst prototypes were produced on winter 2006 and the team, that was wearing them at all the events they attended, realized the immidiate response and success they were having from people. In the meantime the distributor has been found and together with Milan’s shorwroom Pink and Chicco d’Errico, the sales master, Super has done an astonish sales campaign. All the Top stores that were receiving the sunglasses were continuously making reorders selling any colors they had in shop, draining away to the last piece produced.

The introduction on the market of SUPER sunglasses has been such a hit that big names in the industry quickly updated their collections and introduced similar “colorized” sunglasses with multiple colors, confrming and giving credit to SUPER for anticipating this worldwide phenomenon. “Fair enough”.

For the second season, SUPER introduced the 1rst spin-offs from the original model (which was a modern take on the classic vintage wayfarers). They introduced newer shapes like the “Flat Tops” and the “Ciccio”, and the 1rst colored/mirrored Zeiss sun lens made with a special technique called “Flash Electric”. SUPER also introduced various other production techniques like particular prints and special engraving for the 1rst time on these types of sunglasses.

The future is yet to come.

TRACTION | EyeWear | SunWear

As with high‐class watch‐making, we wanted to create high‐class eyewear! This philosophy, having inspired our company for nearly 140 years, is more than ever in the news. With consumers being more and more appreciative of where the products they buy originate from and of their quality, and whilst “Made in France” is progressively becoming part of the selective criteria in its own right, Traction Productions has for some time now chosen local manufacturing in order to achieve transparency, responsiveness and a guarantee of quality for its products, from their design to production. But nothing would be possible without our partner opticians. So how about if we created tomorrow’s high‐class eyewear together ?

Founded in 1872 by Edouard Gros, the company specializes in the manufacture of original ornaments, hair accessories in vogue at the time. But with short hair fashion, the company has quickly challenge and decides to change industry: in 1930, she embarked on the manufacture of spectacles.

When 50 years later, Thierry Gros took over the management of the company, he wants to perpetuate the foremost research quality and modernity that the four generations before him were erected trademark of the company. It adds a personal touch by engaging in the creation of his own eyewear collection: thus Traction Productions was founded in 1989. Why this name? A reference to the "Traction Avenue" in Los Angeles, which intersect the most creative artists and the future big names in film production.

This collection, which marked a new page in the family history, quickly achieved success. It is now distributed in many opticians in France and abroad, and was rewarded for his creativity in France, Italy and the Nordic countries.

The first collection Traction Productions, Thierry Gros wished she expresses a certain "aesthetic failure." As the great designers of fashion, it sets each year of great themes he transcribed in the overall style of the collection. Based on a constant exchange between modernity and refinement California French, 126 models and sunglasses play safely with the materials, shapes and colors to always stick closer to the latest trends, or even ahead while remaining in a chic claimed. This clever cosmopolitan mix partly explains the success of the collection in Europe of course, but also in the United States or Japan.

Despite the success of the collection, Thierry Gros wished to retain the same methods of creation. Each new model is first drawn by hand before being modeled in three dimensions on a computer. A tribute to the factory found throughout the manufacturing.




Thierry Gros has chosen to make his glasses in France to benefit from the know-how and expertise of the fabric of subcontractors Jura. A choice that the creator claims: "In spite of some parts and some components may no longer be made ​​in France, lack of suppliers, all of our creations is' manufactured in the Jura."
Transparency displayed, traceability, constant communication between offices and creating local suppliers reactivity in terms of sales point of sale, quality work at all stages of production, using advanced techniques (cutting thread milling outside for a better game thicknesses, etc..), the benefits of French production are numerous for Thierry Gros, even if it leads to a price difference.
"price plays an important role and it is important to know the justification. However, the concept of made ​​in France, which is not subject to any regulation, begins to be seriously tarnished. It is not enough that a distributor is installed in the Jura with branded products made ​​in France to justify a French manufacturing! In addition, the current economic rules are not consistent with domestic manufacturing at low cost. So be careful not to mislead the consumer if you do not want all suffer in the end."

Collection Available at CATEYEspectacles
boutique.

Vinylize began because we wanted to make eyewear on a recyclable basis. We experimented by making old vinyl records into frames. The process has been refined over a number of years into a stylish and sophisticated product.
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Some vinyl is valuable because of the content but not all and it's those unwanted vinyl records that instead of just being thrown  into landfill we remake  into unique and very wearable eyewear.

We have our own special method of joining vinyl with cellulose acetate which took many years of trial and error to perfect. An example of which you can see detailed in this photo.

Our frames are all stamped with our guaranteed "Handmade in Hungary" trademark.
Today we still make our frames by hand in our Budapest workshop using the methods we developed more than 10 years ago.

Vinylize frames are made unique by the vinyl record veneer that graces the front of the frame.

All our cases are handmade by sewing a zipper onto  a  7" single and folding it in half.

At Vinylize we believe that music has the power to transcend borders and open minds. We believe that no other company fuses style, music and recycling more perfectly than Vinylize.

About Tipton
The foundations of Tipton Eyeworks were laid in the Seattle Washington workshop of Zachary Tipton when the young designer first began making custom rimless eyewear in 1998. For three years rimless designs were produced - all custom made - and various techniques were experimented with as new ideas took form. Some parts were hand forged from titanium welding rods and others were cut from solid material by the same machinists who make Boeing aircraft.
In 2001 Tipton began experimenting with new ways to make a unique plastic frame. After testing many materials, from acrylic to polycarbonate, he hit on the idea of using vinyl records. The unusual texture and color of the vinyl made both the material and the concept practical, interesting and appealing to work with. During the first years of experimentation and production, Zachary’s father’s personal record collection suffered some serious damage, so as the business grew, old records were purchased and made into frames.
In 2002 Zachary moved to Hungary where he found a factory which was willing to develop a vinyl frame that could be mass produced. A special method of joining cellulose acetate with vinyl was pioneered and the Vinylize collection was born. Newly developed methods of machining, tumbling and thermal forming followed.

 In 2004 Zachary was joined by his brother Zoltán and the first successful collection was made, consisting of four men’s styles and four women’s styles in a basic range of colors. Tipton Eyeworks was officially founded and finally moved out from under the radar.
However, the Tipton brothers needed more vinyl to fuel their creations. Their source of material was secured when it was arranged for records to be pressed in a Czech plant near Prague. A friend provided the recording material – some very cool grooves - and a large portion of the pressings were donated to the band, sold or given away. The remainder was recycled into Vinylize products.

In 2007 Tipton Eyeworks began pressing their own records and today we work side by side with musicians. Their recordings are mastered, cut, and then pressed and the albums are distributed across Europe, Southeast Asia and North America. The records that remain are recycled into Vinylize frames. In this manner, Tipton can guarantee the release of otherwise unheard music…and an ongoing supply of ready-to-use vinyl from which to construct their frames.
Later the same year Tipton Eyeworks released a new line of eyewear featuring celluloid film strip mounted in the temples. The Cinematique line is a combination of cellulose acetate, stainless steel and authentic 16 and 35mm film strip. This range continues Tipton Eyeworks’ unique take on eyewear, playfully re-contextualizing concepts of sound and vision with frames that make a statement as well as serving a function.

Today, Tipton Eyeworks continues to produce inspired designs and quality eyewear, cementing our reputation as a dynamic creator of edgy concepts and a superior finished product. These days the focus is on creating bold new design concepts while constantly working to improve the quality and functionality of our pieces.

Vinylize
At Tipton, vinyl is a passion. The first Vinylize frames were made from old LPs purchased at the flea market. As the records became rarer and more varied in quality, we began having the music of up and coming musicians pressed. Today we press our own special records for the Vinylize collection. All the Vinylize cases are made from 7” singles. A special production process has been developed to efficiently transform them.

Vinylize frames are made unique by the vinyl record veneer that graces the front of the frame. The accompanying case is made from a 7” single that is fitted with a zipper and folded in half.
All Vinylize grooves are specially cut and mastered in Paris for Tipton Eyeworks. This is to ensure a beautiful intricate surface for all products. All display and point of purchase material directly incorporates some aspect of vinyl and music recording.

Music has the power to transcending borders and open minds. The creation of a product made from recycled material has the power to touch millions. No other company fuses music and recycling with fashion more perfectly than Tipton.
Cinematique
Cinematique frames are carved from sheets of cellulose acetate plastic. The temples are made from stainless steel. All Cinematique frames are decorated with strips of film. A visible piece of story telling history graces the temple of every frame.

The temples are made by recycling 35mm and 16mm movies. Tipton makes no discretion concerning the media on the film. Some of the film is collected from cinemas and date from after 1989 (fall of Communism in Hungary). Other rolls are purchased at the flea market or through other channels. The scenes are carefully selected for visibility. This means that we search for footage that is high in contrast to ensure a stunning temple. We can even make custom temples with film of your choice.
Tipton Eyeworks has recently been acquiring vintage 16mm films. Topics include skiing movies from the 1980’s (featuring Glen Ellen in Vermont) and nature films from the 1970’s. Another large addition to our collection is stag movies (erotic and explicit in nature) from the 1950’s and 1960’s. These stag movies are available only on request. If you are interested in seeing some examples, click here.
Environmental commitment
At Tipton we believe that everybody, including small companies, should do as much as they can to reduce, reuse and recycle. It only takes a little bit of thought and some healthy creativity to make a sizeable dent in the amount of waste that a business generates, or the amount of energy it consumes.
Besides the standard duties of recycling paper, metal, glass and plastic, Tipton also does a few other things which are unique to the business:
- Cinematique frames are made with salvaged film as often as possible.
- All left over film cuttings are used as packing material.
- Shipping boxes are reused when possible (so don’t be surprised if you receive your order in a cereal box).
- Shipping material such as Styrofoam puffs and bubble foil is also reused.
- We have a ‘paperless office’ policy – and do our best to convince our clients of this.

- All frame fronts are made with salvaged cellulose acetate which would otherwise go to landfill.
- We form salvaged vinyl records into cases, stands and other items.

- We didn’t heat the office or atelier last year. We don’t intend to next year either. (You’ve gotta toughen up if you’re gonna save the planet, right?)
- We like nothing better than to recycle cultural garbage.
We realize that we aren’t going to change the world, but at least we can show an example. And when judgment day comes, we can say that we did our best.