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Eyewear: The Big and the Bold
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Christian Roth & Eric Domège
Salvatore Sampino
10/01/2007
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Photography by Cordero Studios/corderostudios.com
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Christian Roth and his design partner Eric Domège have been at the forefront
of the international fashion and luxury eyewear communities since 1983. In 1995,
they became the first designers to be admitted into the eyewear category of the
Council of Fashion Designers of America, having been favorites of Helmut Lang,
Karl Lagerfeld, Stephen Sprouse and Michael Kors, long before some of them
developed eyewear collections of their own. Until his passing, Helmut Newton
routinely pulled from the Roth collections for his photoshoots, and their
complex, demonstrative styles continue to grace the pages of fashion and design
magazines from North America to Europe and Asia.
Roth’s nightrider 14235 in four green lenses; the serial rider
14270 in gunmetal gray.
In 2002, Italy’s Triennale di Milano chose Christian Roth to
represent the ’80s and ’90s in the "Taking Eyeglasses Seriously" exhibition,
which Roth and Domege feel sums up their approach to the design process. Fully
aware that their oversize styles appeal to motorcycle enthusiasts all over the
world, every design is carefully conceived, planned and executed. Roth remains
the only eyewear designer to consistently produce goggles as large and as
complex as those for the 2008 collection, which include three-dimensional
titanium and gradient lenses in brown with mint combinations, to afford the
motorcyclist maximum UV protection while still being able to look down and read
a map.
The collection, produced and distributed by the Charmant
Group—a global eyewear manufacturer from Japan—consists of 100% pure titanium
and exclusive translucent zyl combinations, highlighted by both single- and
multiple-lens mounting technologies.
The design inspiration comes from many sources, including
iconic furniture pieces such as the Barcelona Chair of Mies van der Rohe, circa
1929.
From their design studio in Monaco, Roth and Domege classify their following
as the "connoisseur clique" segment of elite consumers who presently drive the
trends towards true luxury. "They want what everyone else cannot get their hands
on," Roth asserts, "and they want it first."
www.christian-roth.com
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