Search results
Oliver Goldsmith designs aren’t a luxury or a trend, they represent a moment in fashion history. Designs that deliver beyond the constraints of fast fashion, they have style longevity and autonomy and Claire Goldsmith’s ambition is to create products that continue to stand the test of time.
By Paddy Kamen Family businesses that prosper for three and four generations are rare indeed, but the current Oliver Goldsmith, head designer of the eponymous London-based company, isn’t resting on his laurels.
Oliver Goldsmith is a British eyewear design company established in London in 1926 by Phillip Oliver Goldsmith.
Eschewing the conventional, he expertly manipulated the era's newest material - vibrantly hued plastics - into the world's first coloured spectacle frames. This radical artistic vision planted the seeds for nearly a century of paradigm shifts in eyewear design.
- The Rake
- Can You Describe Your First Pair of Spectacles?
- Do You Have A Favourite Pair?
- Who Would You Pick as Your Eyewear Style Icon and Why?
- Do You Ever Wear Contact lenses?
- How Has The Eyewear Business Changed During Your Time in The Profession?
- How Has Frame Design Changed During Your Time in The Profession?
My first pair of spectacles were a frame called the ‘Gresham Black T.T.’ – back in the ‘50s my father used to distribute them.
It has to be one of my designs called ‘Murphy.’ I designed the oversized frame in the ‘70s and wore it in clear crystal. I loved it so much and told everyone that it was the ultimate frame for me and I was going to wear it for the rest of my life. Eventually crystal goes an off-yellow colour so I put 10 pairs aside for future use thinking that I ha...
Michael Caine because he was the first person I designed a frame for that appeared in a film. I had a phone call from the production company that was making a film called The Ipcress File. Michael Caine’s character in the film, Harry Palmer, wore black glasses and they needed a pair of frames that he could wear to sneak a secret message out of East...
I tried contact lenses when they first came out – they covered the whole eye and I found them very uncomfortable. By the evening my eyes were always so sore that I had to take them out. After that I decided that I preferred spectacles and have never gone back to contact lenses.
Eyewear has progressed from being a medical necessity to a fashion accessory – you only have to look around the trade shows to see all the colours and wacky styles. This is a really positive thing, as if it had not occurred, we would all still be wearing the same NHS frames. During and after the war, spectacles were just a medical necessity and fas...
Frames have become much larger as Rx lenses have been made bigger and as CR39 plastic has been introduced. Now, in the 21stcentury, retro is all the rage. As I have a back catalogue of over 600 designs, we are selecting a few to re-release each year through our licensees in the UK and Japan.
Oliver Goldsmith’s reputation and standards Q E C (quality, excellence, and comfort) still stand behind every frame—which is one of the many reasons why Occhiali is a proud retailer of their vintage, classic, and timeless frames.
Apr 6, 2005 · Hailed by the V&A Museum as "to eyewear design what Vidal Sassoon is to hair and Mary Quant to clothes", Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses have featured heavily in all the chicest, glossiest magazines over the years. And Claire's ten new designs, all of which are handmade in England, are bound to follow.
