The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

W hen Arnold and Anneliese Schmied started Silhouette Eyewear in 1964 in Linz, Aus- tria, they wanted to make the best eyewear available in the world to make people look good while improving their vision. They launched the stunning Futura Sunwear collection in 1973, which became an icon of that decade and is now regarded as a high- ly coveted collector’s item. The following year, Silhouette created an earring collection to complement its eyewear and had its accessories walk on international catwalks. In 1978/79, two of their four children, Arnold and Klaus, joined the company and immediately influenced the brand with their ideas and passions. For the first time, Chinese lacquer was applied to Silhouette eyewear in 1982 by hand, a skill that required a delicate touch and gave depth to the colours. The brand introduced SPX in 1983; S and P stand for Silhouette Polyamide, and the X is the secret ingredient that makes the material special. That same year, Silhouette created and developed their first rimless eyewear collection, Silhouette Freeline, which became the foundation of endless fascination with rimless eyewear manufacturing. During the ‘90s, further developments included ‘Masters of Designs’ that integrat- ed the philosophy and spirit of that decade into eyewear creations. Influenced by his Memphis roots and mindset, Italian architect Matteo Thun created the (S)Unlimited collection promoting the motto ‘flexible, versatile and fun’. Thanks to Italian architect and designer Massimo Iosa Ghini, Silhou- ette won the Austrian national design prize for an exclusive sunwear collection in 1991. The architect played with the ‘fascination of curves’ in four eyewear models three years later. In 1992, the brand discov- ered titanium and created the first rimless titanium eyewear without hinges called Minimal Art which set the benchmark in rimless eyewear design and made the cover of the International Design Yearbook. biteglasses League of Titanium Jada Brookes is intrigued by titanium eyewear technology through Austrian brand Silhouette Eyewear’s full-rim and rimless sunglasses. SILHOUETTE EYEWEAR Images courtesy of Little Red PR