To Die For- Leonard and Fierda sunglasses by Illesteva

Believe it or not, I don’t own a single pair of sunnies. I haven’t really been compelled to buy since I neither drive nor stay a long time under the sun. Even at the beach, or at any other sunny destination, I have always preferred to see things in their natural colors.

Glare be damned!

But maybe, just maybe, these pieces from Illesteva’s debut 2010 Spring-Summer collection (available at Oki-ni) can convince me to take the necessary leap of faith. I’m sure, like me, many of you have seen countless releases of plastic or acetate frames in all the possible colors, across all the budget brackets. But something notable about the Leonard pairs is their shape, which is a combination of many designs – from the pointy curve at the nose to the swimming goggle-thickness of the bridge and around the frame.

Also the double screws and the exposed wire: they betray a cooky personality, that may be a deceptively shallow but always interesting.

The mechanism of the sunglasses is purposely set in contrast to the acetate material to prove that not all loud types lack substance.