Optical Prism August 2019 | Page 12

EYE FOCUS | COVER STORY YY5021 YY1042 SPECTACLE The Canadian design house Specta- cle Eyeworks also embraces new and unique materials. “The Yohji Yamamoto Collection uses an alloy named ‘Duralumin,’ which is an extremely light and very resistant durable alloy and definitely a new-age alloy, which predominant- ly is used by the aero industry for airplane production,” says Mehran Baghaie, operations director and chief designer at Spectacle. Duralumin is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. Its use as a trade name is obsolete and today the term mainly refers to aluminium–copper alloys, designated as the 2000 series by the International Alloy Designa- tion System, as with 2014 and 2024 alloys used in airframe fabrication. YY7035 ALTERNATIVE Over at Alternative & Plan “B” Eyewear, the Canadian company is launching Interface, a complete evolution of eyewear technology. The new eyewear collection features nine high-end styles all constructed from high-grade stainless steel. Each frame features a trans- formative element that takes an ophthalmic frame and trans- forms it into a complete sunglass in a matter of seconds. Interface promises no ghosting, IFF2006 IFF2007 12 EYE FOCUS August Digital 2019 gapping, hooks or magnets, just ophthalmic to sunglass and back again in a matter of seconds with the patented skin technology. “The eyewear industry not only needs technology, it demands it,” says Cassandra Slepian, market- ing manager at Alternative & Plan “B” Eyewear. “Eyewear has been a staple in peo- ple’s lives for so many years that when something new that solves problems and provides solutions for long-existing issues, it can lead to eye care practitioners being able to offer better care and op- tions for their patients.” The new Interface technology also offers polarized protection via the Sun Skin and blue light protection with the Blue Block Skin. “By developing technology in eye- wear, you expand the industry to those who may have been under- served or have not experienced the best their eyewear could be,” says Slepian.