BENGALURU: They say you must look at things through rose-tinted glasses if you want to be optimistic about it. But for a more stylish perspective, there’s SR Gopal Rao’s new range of eyewear, which includes Ray-Ban (24k gold-plated sunglasses), Salvatore Ferragamo, Porsche Design by Carrera, Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior and Paloma Picasso. “These brands form a part of the select eyepieces from the vintage archives of SR Gopal Rao Opticians. We wanted to bring back products that are no longer available, but which were classics of their time,” says Meghana Manay, Chief Operations Officer, S R Gopal Rao Opticians and Optometrists.
SR Gopal Rao is retailing these pieces in collaboration with streetwear brand Capsul. The collection will be available on Capsul’s website till Jan. 1. The nine pieces, priced between `12,000-20,000, all features or styles that are no longer produced today, explains Manay.
She adds, “None of these is recreated because it’ll never be the same as what the brands made back then. They are all vintage originals.” Stating an example, she explains how the Ferragamo and Ray-Ban pieces are made of toughened glass, which is rare to find in sunglasses today.
Though heavier, they are less prone to getting scratches and provide greater clarity. “The Porsche Design by Carrera, on the other hand, has an interesting nose pad structure. I haven’t seen something like it today. The Ray-Ban round too has a single high nose bridge. Generally, glasses rest on the nose via a low bridge and nose pads but in this, the bridge connects one lens to the other without resting on your nose.
That is quite unique and not easily available,” explains Manay, adding that the idea was to look for an interesting story or unique design feature in each of the pieces on sale as part of this collection. “These styles no longer being there, some of these brand associations, like Porsche Design by Carrera, also is no longer there. Since we had unworn pieces like these, from stock dating back 30 to 40 years ago, we wanted to bring them out again,” she adds.