As smart as smart glasses are getting these days, not even they can prevent human errors, like, say, losing a pair of Céline by Phoebe Philo frames on vacation.
Such a tragedy befell Natalie Gulliver in the Dominican Republic. “I bent down to slather my daughter in SPF 70 and watched as they slid right into the sea,” she recalled. Spurred on by the “very specific rage that comes from watching $500 vanish while holding a bottle of Banana Boat,” she’s launched Rosa Rims, her own line of luxury sunwear with mix-and-match chains for keeping them ashore.
The inaugural Rosa Rims eyewear campaign.
A former creative strategist, Gulliver had already been crafting these with rubber ends as a hobby, but as the DR incident suggests, they had a slipping habit. Unable to find a similar product with more secure metal attachments, she took matters into her own hands. “Eventually, I bought a pair of cheap sunglasses and just started drilling holes into the temples.”
Rosa’s patent-pending system hinges on eyelets built into the wire cores of each arm, which the chains attach to with custom clasps. Making the comparison to jewelry, Gulliver noted the hardware is designed to be seen and that each chain is strung with a mix of crystals and semiprecious stones. “They double as a necklace or can be wrapped as a bracelet,“ she added. “We thought carefully about the mechanics, but also about the visual details.”
The inaugural Rosa Rims eyewear campaign.
Courtesy of Rosa Rims
Visually, Rosa’s retro aesthetic borrows from yet another one of Gulliver’s travels, this time to Italy. The five statement-making shades, available online Wednesday, capture the glamour of a Fellini film star with thick acetate in saturated Mediterranean hues as well as sleek black and tortoise.
The debut range includes Andie (smart and rounded) and Gigi (oversize and rectangular), but Gulliver’s favorite is Muriel, named for her grandmother who made ‘60s-style cat-eyes her signature.
The inaugural Rosa Rims eyewear campaign.
Courtesy of Rosa Rims
Muriel passed away while Rosa was in early development and when Gulliver began explaining her chain concept to friends, she said the overwhelming response was some variation of: “Oh, like a granny chain! Which, honestly, made me laugh.”
While her grandmother never actually wore a chain, Gulliver saw it as a sign. “I knew instantly this could be a way to honor her — to have fun with the brand and keep it authentic to who I am.”
Rosa Rims prices vary from $550 to $595. A gold paper-clip chain is included with additional beaded chains available for $150.
The inaugural Rosa Rims eyewear campaign.
Courtesy of Rosa Rims