Mark Twain said ‘Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.’Perhaps this is why Mark Keighery, the founder of the Australian fashion brand ‘Marcs’ and youngest of seven very competitive brothers, wanted to stand out by designing clothes that were bright, bold and oh-so-loud.
Marcs eyewear is designed and manufactured under licence by the Australian distributor Mondottica.
“There is no one designer for the Marcs Eyewear collection – we have a team of designers who work closely in collaboration with Marcs fashion house,” said Amy Hoole, the Optical Product Development Manager at Mondottica.
With Mondottica’s design teams based in Hong Kong and Sydney and travelling to international trade and fashion shows in London, Paris, Milan and New York,
there are many influences on Marcs eyewear styling.
The brand continues to expand, even without the creative energy and rigorous control of its founder.
Ms. Hoole says the real talent lies in distilling a multitude of ideas down to casual and wearable styles that are relevant to everyday life – and of course reflect the timeless qualities of the Marcs brand.
“Our designers take their inspiration from the colours and energy of the cities in which they live and work – they’re vibrant cities that never sleep. As a result, our frames are also colourful and vibrant, they’re a reflection of hot summers and busy cities. For example, the rich colours of Sydney’s coastline are reflected in the brilliant translucent frames of our latest optical collection.
Until now Marcs Eyewear, which was first launched in 2011, has been limited to optical. In 2013, a range of sunglasses will arrive on the market, the result of a year of hard work designing, sourcing and managing production. From now on, the turn around will be quicker, but still, each new eyewear release takes months of research, design and collaboration with the Marcs fashion house.
“Marcs fashion house provides us with story boards and trends for their upcoming fashion release. Our designers in Sydney and Hong Kong take this information and add to it with concepts they’ve developed based on the latest trends, colours, shapes, materials and styles from around the world. Then they work together to create a complete eyewear collection, while staying true to the Marcs style.
“It sounds simple but incorporating a luxurious urban chic feel with timeless designs can be difficult – yet it’s something that together, we achieve year after year,” said Ms. Hoole.
Quality has always been a priority for the Marcs Brand – when Mark Keighery established the fashion label he insisted on being the fit model and wearing each new design around the office as it came
off the sample machine to ensure comfort and wearability.
The eyewear collections are no different – each frame is handmade using the “finest quality” sheet acetates and stainless steel.
And then there is the store design, which reflects both the quality and the aesthetic simplicity evident across all Marcs branded fashion. Architecturally engineered ceilings within each Marcs store give the effect of edgy yet effortless simplicity. Yet each is composed from a series of folded modular planes that can be arranged and interlocked in different ways to suit the store size and floor plan – much like the fashion lines that can be effortlessly mixed and matched according to the wearer’s style, occasion and mood.
With such an emphasis on creating a unified brand aesthetic, it’s not in the least surprising that Marcs is so well known among consumers in Australia and New Zealand – or that the brand continues to expand, even without the creative energy and rigorous control of its founder.
Today Marcs is sold through 18 stand-alone stores in Australia, six clearance stores, eight concession stores in each of David Jones and Myer, and three stores in New Zealand.
