The French owned eyewear brand Lightec has been internationally lauded and awarded for its simple yet highly technical construction, sophisticated design and comfort. mivision spoke to Lightec’s lead designer, Jean-Baptiste Bouvier to gain an understanding of the brand’s design philosophy.
It was the historical French eyewear maker, Morel, that created Lightec in 1997 – one of a raft of brands the company has established, including Oga; Koali; Nomad; Rebel and Marius Morel 1880. Each brand has a lead designer, responsible for creating and evolving the look and feel of the product – from the frame through to the case, packaging and point of sale.
Jean-Baptiste Bouvier joined Morel as lead designer nine years ago and says he’s never looked back. “I’d been working in eyewear design for 17 years, for several firms and always with licenced brands. When I started working for Morel nine years ago,
I began directly with the Lightec brand… the brand fits me perfectly!”
I like to find new ways to adapt the Lightec flex hinge to new materials, to deal with a different approach of lightness, to bend the metal differently…
Lightec designs and manufacturers optical and sunglasses for men and women. The frames are distinguished by technical innovation – the patented flex hinge used across all products has no ‘axis’ and no screw. Additionally, as the brand name suggests, they are extremely light, both in terms of weight and the overall presence on the wearer’s face.
Over the years, Lightec has won several design awards, beginning with the 1999 Silmo d’Argent when the company was just two years old, then both the French Institute of Design’s design prize for the Janus de l’Industrie and the French Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation l’Observeur du Design prize in 2000. That same year, Lightec was internationally recognised with the Good Design prize in Japan, and in 2010, the Best New Product at New York’s East Vision Fair. In 2012, Lightec won the V Award Silver for its sunglasses in Hong Kong.
Jean-Baptiste says this swag of awards recognises Lightec’s ability to fit with current fashion trends while also leading the way for future eyewear, with its focus on technical innovation.
When designing frames he says he is constantly looking for innovative ways to use materials such as stainless steel, carbon, aluminium, TR90 and polyamide rubber. “I like to find new ways to adapt the Lightec flex hinge to new materials, to deal with a different approach of lightness, to bend the metal differently,” he said, acknowledging though that he must “always keep in mind the unique Lightec style that represents the brand”.
He said his inspiration for new designs and production methodologies comes from far and wide. “I seek inspiration everywhere, all the time, even under the shower in the morning. But it’s important to ‘smell’ new tendencies in different fairs like car fairs, furniture fairs. I don’t see a part of a piece of furniture and reproduce it on a frame temple… I have to feel the way colours become more or less lighter, the way the shapes are softer or edgier…”
He said once prototyped, new designs enter a rigorous process to ensure their comfort on “real faces” of different face shapes, before he takes the design to his engineers for technical drawings. “In this part there is much back and forth between the designer and the engineering team, in order to find the best balance between design wishes and engineering needs,” said Jean-Baptiste.
While Lightec product development is managed at Morel’s factory in Morbier, in the village of Morez in France’s Jura Mountains, production is shared between the Morbier site, local sub contractors and partners from around the world.
A Small But Focussed Sun Collection
Jean-Baptiste said Lightec’s sun collection is small relative to its optical range yet equally sophisticated when it comes to design and manufacture.
“Our sunglasses have no screw of course, and we manage to make the frames with no soldering at all either. They are produced by metal milling and bending. A little hook holds the temple to the front and is also used as a rim lock – it’s a technical achievement. We design the sunglasses range without any constraints of cutting lenses. The main focus is the comfort and the protection of wearers.”
He said the nylon lenses used for Lightec’s sun range are “the lightest polarised lenses on the market… and, as we have chosen to make a frame without any soldering, the lenses are mounted straight to the metal front”.
Going Forward
Asked how he will evolve the Lightec design going forward, Jean-Baptiste said he will continue to focus on achieving eyewear that offers comfort and lightness while exploring new materials with which he can create the brand’s unique flex hinge.
“We don’t aim to follow the many fashion trends in eyewear that are pursued by licensed product designers. Lightec follows its own trend with the characteristics of our Lightec brand: comfort, technical sophistication, lightness of weight and style.”
Lightec is distributed in Australia by Eyes Right Optical.
