Unconventional Vision
Eyewear designer Moss Lipow clearly sees the world through a unique lens
By Erinn Morgan
He also boasts a personal collection of more than 3,000 vintage frames that have become popular with fashion stylists.
But this quirky New York artist, who says he began designing eyewear in response to a lack of creativity in the marketplace, also has his feet (well, at least one) planted on the ground.
He recently launched an eponymous sunglass line that is carried at Maxfield, the high-end Los Angeles boutique. The frames range from "retro modern" acetates ($240) to mosaic leather styles ($2,800) in crocodile, emu, ostrich, lizard, fish, and frog.
While he continues to fashion fanciful pieces for magazine photo shoots, Lipow is angling to grow his retail business. "I already did my starving artist thing," he says. "Now I want to make a living."
Here, we get up close and personal with the designer.
EB: Were you trained in eyewear design? What's your history?
ML: No, but I have a visual arts background and I went to film school at New York University.
I am broad-based enough to not need specific fashion training. And I am pretty provincial—I was born and raised in New York and have always lived here.
EB: How did you begin collecting vintage eyewear?
ML: It mounted incrementally. I started getting interested in dressing up and for some of the things I would wear, there was nothing currently produced that was suitable.
I started buying vintage and having my prescription put in, and before you know it, I had a collection. Today, I would say I probably have the best collection of 20th century eyewear that I know of.
EB:
What is your most standout piece?
ML: My favorite piece is the one pair I used to wear all the time—a Buddy Holly sort of frame from the '50s. A frame like that works in a lot of instances.
The frame was imported by a man named Melvin Mutsner. I designed something similar for my current collection and I call it the Double M, after Melvin.
EB: What kind of frames do you create for stylists and photographers?
ML: Patti Wilson, a stylist, will tell me she wants a Victorian 1960s girl band look, and I will crank something out for her. Right now, I am also working on some special pieces for a 70-page Italian Vogue shoot with Steven Meisel. They are made of Mylar and computer board circuits. What I do for photo shoots is more unusual, but what I sell is much more subtle.
EB: What is the inspiration for your eyewear line?
Ultimately, I want the stuff that I do to be wearable but creative. What I find on the part of the industry is a lack of scholarship in terms of the product produced. I have some pieces coming down the road in materials you haven't really seen in eyewear before. It's my secret right now, but they'll be surprising.
EB: Are you planning to expand your distribution?
ML: Yes. What makes me unusual for the industry is that I don't have a background in it. But I think if you can penetrate the fashion arena, then that can be used to leverage your name to sell to an optician.
EB:What is your take on luxury in today's economy?
ML: What we are trying to do is smash old categories. There's a segment of the market that will just pay the money for something they like, and they feel justified in doing so. The high end is really heading in new directions. It continues to factor upwards.
Moss Lipow currently shows his collection out of his New York studio. He can be reached at 646-742-1720.
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