Thomas Lafont: an Innovative Traditionalist

By Paddy Kamen

A sparkling innovator, Thomas Lafont begins the creative process that results in a new eyeglass design, the old-fashioned way – by hand sketching. Working in the Paris headquarters of Lafont, a company started by his great-grandfather, Louis Lafont, Thomas creates fashion frames for men, women and children in the city that is a by word for fashion.

It was Louis Lafont who began the dynasty in 1923 when he opened his first optical shop in the Madeleine area of Paris. He sold hearing devices in addition to eyeglasses, many of which he designed himself. Today Thomas’ father, and Louis’ grandson, Philippe, runs the company. For many years he did so in close collaboration with his wife, Laurence who was the head of design. Sadly, Laurence passed away in 2008.

Thomas learned his design technique from Laurence, and they worked together from the time he graduated from art college (and fulfilled his one-year military obligation) in his early twenties until just a few years before her passing. “My mother had a design studio where she worked not just on eyewear, but also on designs for textiles, carpets and china. When I began, I did the window displays for our four optical shops in Paris plus the booths for optical shows. Then I started working on men’s eyewear and today I design all our collections.”

Laurence Lafont brought a strong colour sense to the collections, which continues to this day. “Lafont eyewear is known for colour and we owe that to Laurence,” notes Ray Khalil, the company’s president for North America. “There are always lots of colour choices and we feel this makes the difference. The colours are flattering and look good in the light and on the face.”

There is a strong influence from the fashion trades in Lafont eyewear. “We attend the fabric shows every year to see the upcoming trends in pattern, colour and texture,” explains Thomas. “We build on that and are able to take our newest creations, which are closely aligned with prêt-à-porter and haute couture, to the major optical shows and know they are right on target. Every aspect of our eyewear is designed in-house.”

There are four people in the Lafont design studio: Thomas, the artistic director, is responsible for sketching the new designs, Marie-Angèle, the product manager, is in charge of following all development and manufacturing issues, Jane creates colour and pattern choices to complement Thomas’ work, and Anna works on point-of-purchase materials, catalogs, and the recently re-designed website (www.lafont.com).

For Thomas, the design aesthetic involves honoring the tradition implicit in the Lafont history, while being very open-minded to new developments. “One can see a certain consistency within Lafont design over the years and it’s not for me to change that. So I am dedicated to the Lafont aesthetic while still exploring my own taste and what I like. We never follow the trends just to sell frames. We do what we like to do and what we think needs to be done. We follow our own path and although we’re sometimes wrong, most of the time we’re correct and people find our work and appreciate it. We value a continuation of style.”

There are five collections within the Lafont portfolio – Lafont Paris, Issy et La, Lafont Reedition, Sunwear by Lafont, and Lafont Kids. Lafont Paris has seven styles. Two of them (Borgia and Baroque) are brilliant reflections of the city; a combination of acetate and filigreed stainless steel that mimics the lacy effect of so many gates, window grills and other architectural accents found throughout Paris. The unique take on the cats’ eye design for women – Boutade – combines a retro feminine sensibility with more masculine laser etching along the brow.

Issy et La offers more casual, youth-oriented designs. “The colours are more limited and the designs more standardized within Issy et La, in order to bring something very nice to the price-conscious consumer,” notes Khalil.

Lafont is one company that had an easy job of creating a retro collection. The Reedition line is based on their own models from the past, with some modern touches. “When you look at what was done 50 years ago, it is amazing what kind of detail they have put into the frames,” notes Thomas. The fact that the Lafonts have a long-standing relationship with a Jura-based manufacturing family was a big help in recovering technical details from the past.

“We’re not an old-fashioned company, but we do take care to keep the tradition of French frame-making,” explains Thomas. “The French know-how from the Jura region allows us to obtain a quality of technical detail and design that is far beyond what we could get elsewhere. We give a lot of attention to quality and technology in our frames. They are something special that you can wear everyday and they won’t be a nightmare for opticians to fit. As well as being attractive in colour and shape, it is essential for us to make a good technical frame.”

On another historic note, the Lafont family has put considerable resources into amassing a collection of historic eyewear from around the world, some of whose pieces are on display at their small museum in the Madeleine. They have approximately 400 pieces in total.

At Silmo 2009, Lafont will be celebrating 30 years of bringing their eyewear designs to the international market. “Thirty years ago my father decided to expand from making special frames for our Parisian customers to making them available to people around the world,” says Thomas. “We are one of the oldest companies in designer eyewear and are very proud of our heritage and traditions.”

With a baby girl of his own now, Thomas may be poised to develop the next designer for the Lafont dynasty. In the meantime, the Lafont reputation for fine eyewear is in very good hands.