Eyewear

by Moss Lipow

Optical 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.
Text in English, French, and German

Genres: Design, Fashion

358 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2011

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous coffee-table book on designer sunglasses through the ages. You'll love the Pucci sunglasses as well as the insane geometrically shaped designs throughout this great book. Rates an extra star for putting Kim Jong Il and Devo on the same page.:)

[Sally Hegedus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, light, enjoyable read on the history of eyewear design. Mostly a coffee table book, but with just enough design history to add some educational value. This is a heavy tome; the pages are thick and glossy and the photos are very nice and colorful. It is interestingly presented in three languages- English, French and German- such that each chapter is presented thrice, one after the other. This doesn’t altogether mean that the duplicate prose is merely adding weight to the book, however, as there are a number of additional photos printed with each translation.