Initium Eyewear, Metro.Pop
01.Mar.2004, 01:24
metrounisexual™ (venuto a contatto di shoo-EL' di yoo' Ni-sek'' del ro):
Designed by Dennee, his sales team, and music friends — “Not sure how it would be perceived, but none of us have any formal design training other than being very particular and opinionated about style and quality” — , inspired by music — “I design many of my shapes with specific artists in mind” — Initium sunglasses color outside traditional gender image lines while retaining recognizable forms.
“I wanted our line to be a balance of new ideas and reintroductions of classic silhouettes,” explains Dennee. “I felt that designer eyewear was collectively trending toward very forward styles and becoming so slick that it was alienating my demographic: music and fashion enthusiasts. My peer group was buying premium denim for hundreds of dollars and weathered rock-inspired T-shirts for $80 and then paying $9.99 for their eyewear because nothing out there fit within the aesthetic,” an aesthetic with rock n’ roll muses, mirroring the company’s heavy synergy with the music industry.
There are the sleek Boxcars, “a Ray Charles-inspired model, [and] the Cocktails were inspired by the artwork on the Danzig debut vinyl album jacket, [while] the Nighttowns”–thin wires framing a large lenses–”were inspired by Bono and the musical contributions of U2,” describes Dennee.
Rock n’ roll fashion may be tres American, but Initium eyewear itself is manufactured in the land responsible for cappuccinos.
No, Initium doesn’t have a factory in a Starbucks in Seattle.
Think more tutto Italiano.
“We’re out to make the highest quality eyewear possible and it helps to start with a point of origin on our product that is known for quality,” says Dennee. “Italy also boasts such a strong resume and history when it comes to producing eyewear. They have the best mechanical infrastructure and production processes, which tends to translate into the best eyewear. I believe it to be far more than a geographic placebo effect — you can tangibly feel the quality difference between and Italian-made piece and one made in, for instance, China, the second you pick up the frame.”
From very American inspirations and a southern California base, to Italian manufacturing, and distribution as wide as Barney’s New York in Tokyo, Initium lays base for the “international” in the company’s subtitle of
international opticcult (in’ter-nash’e-nel opt’ih-kult): n. 1. my cue to ask Dennee a linguistics question. 2. it’s —
” — a title I came up with for fans of music and fashion who had been neglected for too long in the category of eyewear,” says Dennee. “We were out there all along, restless and waiting for our opportunity to be addressed. Now our allegiance lies with Initium… the uprising has begun.”
And Initium’s definition of “uprising”? See:
1. expansion beyond the compilation CD gift paired with a purchase of their glammy glasses and promotional tee shirts and trucker hats politely plastered with Initium logo and artwork, ie. “We have a bunch of stuff coming down the pike. In addition to the new models, we have a series of events that will begin to showcase the bands we are fortunate enough to work with,” says Dennee. “Best way to get details on the coming events is to get signed up on the Opticcult mailing list at the website… As for the design projects pending, you’ll just have to wait and see how many proverbial ‘checks’ my butt can cash.”
“We don’t intend to limit the brand’s expansion,” continues Dennee. “We intend to make Initium a moniker synonymous with quality and the rock and roll lifestyle in multiple categories of not only fashion, but entertainment as well. There is so much more we want to excel at, but we will do our damnedest to master each category before taking on the next adventure.”
Bravo.
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15.May.2006, 10:26 pm
My question is if you say that you based your brand around friends and not to use celebrities to sell your products like all crap, lifeless brands do then why do you dedicate a whole section of your website to “stars”. thats wak! most people can tell that you dont have any formal design training, it shoes in your rip off or aestheticaly repulsive designs.
if your products are so great to be made in Italy then why do you use cheap injection plastics? or why dont you use spring hinges? Poly Carbonate lenses? Dude. WAKE UP!
your brand is SHIT!