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Madonna wears the archived Cutler and Gross 0197 frame on a visit to our London Knightsbridge store in 1989; this style served as the inspiration for our 1390 Round Sunglasses
Unlike the well-documented history of eyewear mainstays such as aviators or cat eye glasses, the exact origin of round glasses is little harder to trace. The history of round frames is somewhat entwined in the history of glasses themselves.
The first of their kind were weighty things often made from lead or iron and often needing to held by hand, not particularly ergonomic to say the least. Today, rounded lenses are one of the few true timeless classics; a piece of eyewear history that still pulls it weight today.
The go-to for some of the world’s most esteemed figures throughout the decades, centuries even, round glasses have played their part in plenty of culturally seismic events. Framing the faces of the intellectuals and first superstars of the roaring twenties, the financiers of the not-so-roaring thirties, figureheads of the sixties and seventies counterculture movement and it’s Britpop relative in the nineties.
Then there are the figures whom you can’t imagine wearing anything but round glasses; David Hockney (pictured left), Elton John, Steve Jobs, Whoopi Goldberg, John Lennon, Ozzy Osbourne, to name a few. Hockney used to wear our now archived 0736, which served as the inspiration for the suitably eccentric 1396 for our Spring/Summer 22 collection.
The collection, aptly named ‘The Artist’s Studio’, draws from contemporary artists who are widely regarded
as masters in their respective fields. Cutler and Gross have been actively engaged in the arts for over 50 years, cultivating and maintaining bonds with other creative industries is a commitment of ours that has never faltered.
Other artists that have inspired the collection include Ralph Steadman, Yayoi Kasuma, Elton John and Sean Scully. Whether it’s colour, form, or more just our interpretation of their artistic attitude, this collection is imbued with their spirit throughout.
Discover the full Spring Summer 22 Collection.