London designer Ron Arad has created a range of sunglasses and spectacle frames that can be adjusted to fit any face by sliding the lenses along an A-shaped wire over the nose.
The same wire forms a hinge mechanism that automatically closes the arms when the glasses are taken off.
Each design in the collection is named after a different London Underground station.
These are the first in a series of frames by Arad for new eyewear brand pq.
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The details below are from pq:
With frames designed by the artist, architect, thinker, designer and teacher Ron Arad, pq is here to bring something new to the world of glasses.
New ideas are important. Most trousers look like trousers, most sweaters look like sweaters, most glasses look like glasses, but there is room for something new as well. That’s what pq is here to bring.
Individuality is a big part of pq. Not only frames that are a little bit different but frames that can make you a little bit different too.
Quality is another big part. It’s one thing to make prototypes that are enjoyable for days and another thing to make real frames that are reliable for years.
pq is about being a little playful too. pq has some serious frames and is serious about its frames but is not a fully signed-up member of the serious club. It plays a little on the outside.
Take the name for example. The brand is called pq because p and q are very good friends, nestled next to each other in the middle of a hostile alphabet, the mirror of each other, meaning nothing, and importantly meaning nothing in Japanese. pq stands for nothing but the shape of a pair glasses.
Afraid of “boredom, fundamentalists and philistines,” Arad has spent a career creating studio pieces and buildings that are innovative and uncompromised.
He sees pq as an opportunity to develop a product that, for the first time, will take his unique approach to design and “rest it on the ears and noses of a great many people.”
A-Frame:
In pursuit of coming up with a pair of frames to fit any face, we created the A-Frame. It’s a simple name for new kind of glasses idea that puts an A-shaped wire structure into the middle of the frame. The A in the bridge can be easily adjusted, to move the two lenses and frames closer or further apart.
To explain the nuts and bolts of the A-Frame; quite simply there aren’t any...
The wire that forms the A also forms the invisible sprung hinges. The magic really happens when you take the glasses off; they close effortlessly.
The A-Frame is constructed from the following materials: titanium, known for its durable, corrosion resistant and hypoallergenic properties; aluminium which is both light weight and corrosion resistant; acetate for colour fastness and comfort; corrosion resistant steel and the alloy, Monel.
