Originally
established in 1970 in the UK by the fashion designer Linda Farrow, A luxury
eyewear company was set up and put into storage. Farrow was the first designer
to treat sunglasses as fashion; she felt the public was not yet ready to see
her collections and decided to concentrate on family. In 2003, her son Simon
Jablon relaunched the business along with Tracy Sedino, after discovering a
huge selection of sunglasses in the family warehouse. Luckily the collection
was found at a time when vintage appeal started to become a huge trend, let
alone the stamp of classic individuality that now everyone holds within their
wardrobe. Linda Farrow as a brand in the 2000’s had found its niche; large
overpublicized luxury brands such as Dior & Prada were creating vulgar
eyewear as just a way of holding more limelight. Linda Farrow was a breath of
fresh air and brought in a unique approach to eyewear.
“Linda Farrow offers what most eyewear
companies can no longer offer: innovation in the purest sense of the word.” (1)
By creating designs that were based on form
and aesthetic appeal, rather than over branding. The era of ‘the Mega Brand’
was becoming exhausted, the luxury industry needed to bring back some basic
elegance, good design and reduce its crassness. Linda Farrow was this statement
without a label, of true luxury and grace.
Simon and Tracy
decided to sell on this collection under the name of ‘Linda Farrow Vintage’.
However after a few thousand pairs sold later, the vintage collection was
running out. The company name is now “Linda Farrow’ showing the label continues
to relate the collections to vintage for its inspiration, yet maintains to push
forward into the future.
“The Seventies and
Eighties were amazing years in terms of sunglasses. Those golden-framed,
mirror-lenses aviators that are so synonymous with Seventies chic and the
minimal black acetate-framed look of hard Eighties chic – those are references
that we are drawn to again and again,”(2)
Linda Farrow
describes itself as innovative, providing luxury eyewear that will not be found
elsewhere. On an initial impression of this label, I couldn’t understand why
the designs do not have much markings of the logo on the products. As a nation
we are so accustomed to sunglasses being splashed with logo and large branding,
I found Linda Farrow quite unusual in a slightly disturbing way at why they
would not promote themselves further. Especially considering the brand being at
a very high price point, perhaps the highest I’ve ever seen eyewear to be.
Linda Farrow does
not have a ‘Classic look’ like so many other eyewear brands, such as Prada and
the swirled arms or Ray-Bans with their box shape design. For these other
brands, having a classic pair of frames has created huge advertising for
themselves in an understated manner before the consideration of adding logos
has been made. This method makes a label incredibly recognisable when worn by
others, without the need for close inspection.
I suppose this is Linda
Farrows’ idea of total innovation; to be constantly moving forward and not
settling upon just one design feature. Holding a strong enough brand image and
customer reputation has proven that Linda Farrow does not need large logos or a
classic look in order to become a successful company.
“Timeless
in design, uncompromising in quality, unabashedly luxurious, Linda Farrow takes
sunglasses to the next level” (3)
The Linda Farrow
logo is very simple, showing slim, contemporary sharp, black handwriting
against a blank white background. This gives the impression that the brand is
understated, timeless and clean cut. Other than this logo, they only seem to
hold quick LF symbol on the products in obscure places around the eyewear, such
as on the inside of the hinge and a tiny imprint onto the corner of the lense. These little extras help to give the customer
more satisfaction, knowing that the design has been well considered and gives
an element of surprise. Other than the hidden logos, Linda Farrow only has a
unique selling point of being more exclusive than other brands.
LF holds themselves
at the highest point on the luxury market, providing a price point that
displays this. This is due to the materials that are used; no expense is spared
and most extravagant fabrics are involved. A great example (below left) of this
is a pair of aviator frames that have alligator skin to cover the frame, the
metal components can be changed from rose gold, bronze, white gold or gold, all
with complementing coloured lenses.
Talking of the
aviator collection 307;
“They are all made of titanium, which makes
the eyewear very lightweight. They are then coated in 22 Carat gold. The lenses
are then are then dripped with gold, but not the 22 Carat, that’s what gives
them the reflective look.”(4)
Another great example (above right) of the
material Linda Farrow uses is a cat eye frame made from acetate but the arms
are covered in lavender snakeskin, which corresponds to the colour of the
lense.
Using these materials has surprisingly not
made any impact on the public or press due to the ethics behind sourcing such
exotic skins. Many other large companies get their products slated for using
animal products, but perhaps the public have become more acceptable to high-end
brands using unique especially sourced materials. Linda Farrow are not
concerned with environmental ethics, when questioned they responded;
‘As
a company, we are trying to cut down our footprint but we don’t look at
eco-friendly materials. We would love to work with Stella McCartney, it would
add a whole new concept to eyewear” (5)
Linda Farrow source all their manufacturing in
Japan, where the country holds a strong reputation for good, well made products
and therefore quality assurance can be monitored carefully.
Packaging used by this brand is also of the
highest of standards. The formal navy outer box is set out like a jewellery box
and intends to be kept as a souvenir. Inside are a velvet lining and the pair
of sunglasses wrapped in a leather sheath that can then be removed and reused
as a protective cover. The entireties of the extras alongside the sunglasses
are carefully considered with no expense spared, especially colour, simple hues
are more elegant and give a more luxury appeal. Bright colours are associated
with high street labels due to their packaging, giving off an overall rough
immodest appearance.
“We aim to be the ultimate in luxury, but
also understand that we want all people from different demographics to experience
luxury. That’s why we do collaborations with different brands. Therefore the
eyewear can be sold at a different price point relevant to the brand we have
merged with” (6)
As a way of spreading
the Linda Farrow name in a dynamic, secluded way, collaborations were made with
other luxury apparel brands. The first collection created as a collaboration
that Linda Farrow did was with Dries Van Noten and Jeremy Scott. The main
reason behind creating collaborative collections was to make the brand more
accessible to the mass market by lowering the price point. This proved to be a
huge advancement on the Linda Farrow brand, with the collections in music
videos and names as large as Lady Gaga wearing the eyewear. The ‘Mickey’ frame
with hinged lenses seemed the most successful and by providing them at a third
of the average price of a Linda Farrow product at only £285.
Until the last
18months, customers have had to buy the products through Liberty’s and a few
exclusive companies. Only recently have they launched a website and retail shop
where the consumer can purchase. As a company they find the majority of their
sales are online due to the majority of customers being situated abroad.
However they are trying to change this by making the retail side more
attractive. They hope to hold more stores in cities worldwide but they are
concerned that the brand may become diluted in its luxury approach by holding
too many stores and lacking control. Also they believe this is a huge risk by
going into retail as it is incredibly costly to portray the luxury image well.
“It’s
a culture thing. Middle easterners like the golden, shiny collections as it
suits their skin tone much better than us pallid Brit’s. They find the platinum
too masculine, but they prefer the rose gold frames”(7)
The
products are unisex, some of the designs have more of a sway towards one gender
or the other, which can depend on the size of the lense or width of frame.
Linda Farrow believes their average customer to be largely Middle Eastern
based. This could be due to many factors; as there is a large Muslim culture in
the Middle East, due to their attire, the only way of creating individuality is
through eyewear. Another reason could be as this is a price point that they
find reasonable, with many affluent families living in the wealthy capital
Dubai. Many of the designs within Linda Farrow have been tailored to suit this
customer, with a price point ranging from £300-£1000.
By
holding their products within Liberty’s department store, Linda Farrows
competitors increase. Widely known as a place to source the most exclusive
items, surely Liberty’s must be full of competition. When visited in the Liberty’s
store, Linda Farrow is not set apart from the other sunglasses and blends in
very well to the other eyewear. As a
brand, which sets itself above all other eyewear companies, they do not believe
they have much competition.
‘No I don’t believe we do have a main
competitor because we are such a niche. In terms of money, in Selfridges our
big competitor is David Clulow.’ (8)
This said, David
Clulow does not manufacture their own eyewear; instead they are a franchise,
which sells large brands such as Oliver Peoples, Ralph Lauren, D&G and
provide optical care and services alongside. This does not mean they are a
competitor as Linda Farrow holds their own line of products and shall hold an
entirely different mission.
A large competitor
of Linda Farrow is Cutler and Gross, otherwise known as C&G. The company is
an independent boutique based in Knightsbridge, London, C&G pride
themselves on their large eyewear museum within the store. Established since
1969, Cutler and Gross hold a reputation for their contemporary and highly
innovative use of materials and unique design.
This product (below)
is a classic design that has been handmade within Italy using acetate and can
be sourced in many other colours. The range is suited to their customers who
like to express their individuality. Each design is a bold statement and gives
an impression of true British design.
“Cutler
and Gross is a visionary British luxury eyewear brand that has been creating
sunglasses and opticals for the discerning client with a sense of individual
style for 46 years. The brand produces the highest quality frames, all finished
by hand with the most meticulous attention to detail, using a wealth of traditional
artisanal eyewear craftsmanship in its own factory in Cadore, Italy.” (9)
Conclusion
Linda Farrow is
still a very young company with it’s name growing as every collection and
collaboration is made. The social media popularity behind the brand is expanding
rapidly, with its presence trying hard to keep an opulent and extravagant
image.
The future for the
Linda Farrow brand is to become more retail based and tangible. Tactile
features are a huge importance behind a luxury company, showing that quality
and substance are behind the product. As the majority of Linda Farrow clients
are abroad and buy products mostly online, this puts a hesitation on buying
something incredibly expensive and most probably hinders sales. As the company
plans to open more retail stores globally, this shall help to improve sales and
customer satisfaction.
Bibliography
The quotes
(1),(3) the Linda
Farrow website;
(2) Article based on
the Linda Farrow brand;
(4),(5),(6),(7),(8)
All taken from an interview with the Linda Farrow Shop Assistant.
(9) The Cutler &
Gross website;
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