Eyewear

Optical opulence

500 years of spectacles ranging from classic to outrageous

For over two decades eyewear designer Moss Lipow trawled eBay, auction houses, garage sales, and flea markets worldwide, amassing glasses and photographs for his renowned collection. This book traces eyewear’s journey over the past 500 years, and features the finest examples from Lipow’s collection as well as pieces from preeminent collections around the world. There is a wealth of examples included herein—from a rudimentary bone sunshield and curious contraptions of leather and wood to lorgnettes, pince-nez, monocles, aviators, and bedazzled cat eyes. Eyewear has experienced a surprising and fascinating evolution; what was once a purely practical apparatus has grown into a multibillion-dollar global industry catering to both the visually impaired and the fashionably inclined.

Accompanying the wealth of images in this wide-ranging volume is an insightful history informed by a wide variety of sources, including ancient texts, old catalogues, vintage magazines, and out-of-print publications of every kind.

• Over 1,000 examples of the most extravagant glasses
• Covering almost 500 years of design


The author:
Moss Lipow is an eyewear designer and collector based in New York City. As a designer he has worked with the fashion industry’s top editorial stylists. His creations have appeared in magazines around the world including Newsweek, Vogue Italia, Vogue Nippon, Spin, W, and L’officiel, and on the faces of celebrities including Lady Gaga, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Elton John. He was a 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist, and has been nominated for the 2011 National Design Award, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute. His eponymous line of eyewear is sold worldwide.