Balmain blijft verrassen

Last Saturday, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad devoted extensive attention to glasses. The occasion was the 90th birthday of Nana Mouskouri.

The Greek singer became famous mainly through her music, but she also stood out because of her inseparable black glasses.  The story about this was beautifully recorded by journalist Alexander van Eenennaam, who naturally came across www.nanawoodyandjohn.com during his search for information. After all, our name was inspired by Nana Mouskouri, Woody Allen and John Lennon, all of them well known for their iconic glasses. Contact was quickly made and ultimately resulted in almost two pages with a leading role for glasses.

(Sun)glasses can play an important role in creating an image like no other accessory. The article mentions numerous examples and there are of course many more. Perhaps you are one of those people who choose their glasses carefully for this reason.

NanaWoody&John wants to inspire and encourage everyone to choose a really beautiful pair of glasses that accentuates your personality and contributes to your self-confidence instead of a boring characterless frame. That is why we also like to refer you to passionate opticians with a love for their profession and with beautiful collections in their stores!

During the NanaWoody&John Night at the Club last November in Amsterdam, Fiona Hering and Baba Sylla spoke passionately about the work of Orange Babies in Africa.

For 25 years, this organization has been committed to preventing children of HIV-infected mothers from also being born with the disease. They do great work and saved many lifes already. I have known Baba and Fiona and the work of Orange Babies for a long time, so the connection was quickly made. This year, NanaWoody&John and its partner stores and suppliers are committed to raising money to purchase a new mobile clinic for Orange Babies in South Africa.

All kinds of initiatives are now being developed and the first results are already known. Max voor Ogen in Schagen set aside a nice amount from every pair of glasses sold in January and recently donated the first 1,250 euros.

Bobo’s Sports Eyewear did the same for every Serengeti sunglasses sold in February and earlier this week presented a check for no less than 5,460 euros to Fiona and Baba.

Thanks to these two generous and committed donors, the counter already stands at 6,710 euros at the beginning of March and, as mentioned, there are many more great plans on their way, such as the special Scotch & Soda sunglasses, the proceeds of which will also go to Orange Babies.

We and Orange Babies are extremely grateful for all the support and we will keep you posted about new results in the months to come. I think with this collaboration the independent opticians and their suppliers show how they make the difference in every shopping street and everyone can contribute by shopping local at independent stores!

It's still early in the year and they don't have a crystal ball at Vogue either, but the fashion magazine still dares to make a prediction.

It bases this largely on the Lyst Index, which keeps track of how often a brand or item from a brand is googled. Victoria Beckham has been doing remarkably well in this regard lately. This is partly due to the extremely popular Netflix documentary about the Beckhams and the humorous way in which she responded with the popular 'My Dad had a Rolls Royce' t-shirt. More serious is her Frame Buckle belt with the beautifully styled logo, which ended up at number 2 of the most searched for products after the Margaux bag from The Row. In short, Victoria Beckham is not the largest fashion brand in the world, but it is very popular at the moment. And the designers cleverly include that beautiful 'buckle' of the belt in the sunglasses collection that is now in stores. Click here for a store near you!

This month all leading fashion houses showed their new men's collections for the winter of 2024/25. Always beautiful to see, inspiring and above all an interesting image of the times that you, as a fashion lover, do not want to miss.

From the stylish outfits of Zegna and the suits of Gucci to the much-discussed Louis Vuitton show, where Pharrell Williams has been in charge for some time now. His contemporary translation of a genuine American cowboy/western style was one of the highlights of these fashion weeks. But of course there was much more to see. From the robots on the runway at Dsquared2 to the impressive black creations of Dolce & Gabbana and Dior's tribute to dancer Rudolf Nureyev. From the prints, tribal influences and color explosions at Balmain to the luxury of Valentino and Hermes and the incredibly beautiful compositions of the old master Yohji Yamamoto (also watch the impressive documentary about this Japanese designer). See how the difference between the genders is increasingly blurred with jewelry, rhinestones, ruffles, heels and skirts in these men's shows and be inspired by all the creative talent behind all those beautiful fashion brands.

Silhouette's Titan Minimal Art is one of those rare and valuable ideas that are still relevant many years after they were conceived. To this day, there is no other frame in the world that is so consistently and skillfully minimalist.

This timeless, rimless frame has no hinges, no screws and, at 0.06 grams, virtually no weight. It still inspires with unparalleled comfort and unsurpassed (design) quality. Its introduction, in which I was directly and intensively involved at the time, felt like a real revolution.

Never before has glasses design been so embraced by both opticians and consumers. There was a point where we felt like just about every glasses wearer was wearing a Titan Minimal Art.

  “I just wanted to leave out everything that was unnecessary, but also refused to compromise on design and comfort,” says designer Gerhard Fuchs, looking back on his design. “Suddenly we were receiving letters and emails from all over the world, people thanking us,” recalls Michael Schmied, a member of the family that owns Silhouette.

“That was extraordinary and very moving.” More than 12.4 million pair of this iconic design have been sold to date – and there is no end in sight to this success.