Last year I introduced Swedish eyewear designer, Anna-Karin Karlsson to you all, I’m a big fan of her designs and this year she’s back with more amazing designs. The theme behind the 2013 collection is heavily symbolic. Anna-Karin took time out from the rest of the world and moved to a cottage in the Swedish countryside in order to realise her ambition of creating couture eyewear. In the dark forests of northern Sweden, Anna-Karin’s determination and vision had few distractions and she worked continously and obsessively. ”Perfecting the Art of Dying Alone”, the title of her 2013 collection derives from working around and engaging in themes of grief and mourning. The collection was created to show the beauty and sorrow of sacrifice and the perishability of it all.

For 2013 she brings back some of her classic styles along with new styles featuring animals, flowers and three dimensional prints decorated on heavy graphic frames. The expression is beautiful, strong and whimsical. Some of the new styles are ”Mourning for Miss Blow” is a tribute to the fashion legend Isabella Blow, who Anna-Karin had the honor of working with in her early years. Originating from her song ”One Trick Pony” the eyewear design ”Black Horse” is Anna-Karin’s most sculptural work to date. ”People want things with a heart – with thought and depth – and I want my designs to live a beautiful, romantic life.”

Really amazing collection, I love so many pairs! The collection is available at annakarinkarlsson.com.

Photography: Matt Irwin for Sunglass Hut

Mother’s Day is next Sunday, May 12th, and to celebrate this big day, Sunglass Hut launched a new campaign featuring Georgia May Jagger, Global Brand Ambassador, and her supermodel mom Jerry Hall for its 2013 Mother’s Day campaign. The campaign was shot by photographer Matt Irwin in Los Angeles. Super cute, if you haven’t gotten a gift for your mom yet, perhaps a pair of luxury sunglasses will do!

Remember when I introduced Giorgio Armani’s 2013 eyewear collections (here and here) to you guys back in February? They’ve just announced their new eyewear campaign, Frames of Life, the eyewear campaign launched in 2010 but makes its return in 2013.

The setting this time is a café in a big city square, with a constant flow of people coming and going: countless stories, all different and each one unique, intertwining to create a completely new narrative. The protagonists of these ‘frames of life’ are: Luc, a writer whose first work has just been published; Carlos, a young barman with a passion for cinema; Nina, a talented cellist seeking her first gig; Lucille and Adrian, two successful young architects. This creates a medley of different stories, hopes, and emotions, tied together by a common element: their Frames of Life eyewear.

The eyewear adds a subtle touch of style to the characters in a way that does not overpower, but compliments their personality. The frames represent the timeless design drawing on the iconic shapes of Giorgio Armani’s revisiting in a contemporary fashion with new materials and colors, artisanal details and innovative technological features.

The new Frames of Life campaign will live in print and on www.framesoflife.com, but also on social media through a series of short video clips that reveal and explore each character as the stories unfold over time.