When two visionary partners – one with expertise in optometry and the other in dispensing – united, the iconic Melbourne titanium designer eyewear brand, RYAN ADDA was born.
With Ryan’s expertise in optometry and Agnes’ background in dispensing, they created a leading eyewear brand that offers stylish and comfortable frames for people of all ages. mivision sat down with Ryan and Agnes to understand more about how they built their eyewear brand and the success it is now enjoying.
Q. Can you tell me about skills each of you has brought into eyewear?
Agnes: Ryan is a qualified optometrist and the eyewear stylist in South East Asia for FHM Magazine. I often describe him as a change-maker with a deep passion for shifting the status quo. He’s really driven to enhance efficacy and efficiency in things around him and it was this passion to make a difference that inspired me to join him in business.
Ryan: As an optician, Agnes has a sense of style and a real knowledge about what makes eyewear stylish, balanced and ultimately, really functional for the wearer – we’ve both been in the optical industry since 2001.
Q. RYAN ADDA’s stated mission is “to seamlessly unite young trendsetters with fashionable progressive lenses”. How do you achieve this?
Ryan: We believe eyewear is so much more than a necessity – it has to be an extension of the wearer’s personal style and expression. So we design functional frames that stylistically appeal to a diverse range of people while always paying close attention to innovative technology and quality.
Each of our frames tells a distinct narrative – we draw inspiration from the natural beauty that surrounds us to create edgy, fashion forward eyewear.
Agnes: Then to achieve functionality, we experiment with technology to create frames that are robust, comfortable, and light. We also pay a lot of attention to visual quality – that’s where progressive lenses come into play and we have a strong supplier relationship with ZEISS for this purpose.
Q. What is your design philosophy?
Ryan: William Blake famously said, “Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed”. We believe in the naked beauty of the face and all our masterpiece frames are designed and created based on this philosophy.
The first thing people notice is your face, so your glasses should help to enhance your beauty by flawlessly and seamlessly becoming a part of your face, your personality, and your style. Our aim is for our frames to become such an integral part of the wearer’s style that it’s as if they were born wearing them.
Agnes: But having said that, we don’t want our frames to disappear – the idea is that without screaming out to the world, our clean, unfussy lines create a subtle yet strong presence. They enhance the wearer’s experience.
Q. In two words, how would you describe your over-arching design style?
Ryan: Effortless charisma.
We bridge the gap between high fashion and function with sophisticated, elegant design.
Q. Do you have a typical customer?
Ryan: Typically, they are in their mid-20s, metropolitan, and with a penchant for iconic, classic fashion.
They tend to gravitate towards sophisticated, minimalistic, and well-balanced design. They are comfortable in themselves, without being overly confident. They fill the room with their presence, yet they are unpretentious. They also value functional design – they want to slip on a frame and know it’s going to sit well on the face and provide them with the visual acuity they need.
Q. Who are the designers of RYAN ADDA?
Ryan: We work closely with a team of designers from around the world, and we mix things up to ensure we’re always coming up with innovative designs. Currently, for example, we are collaborating with a renowned French designer, who works with world-class brands. He designed, and continues to evolve our new Nova sunglass collection, which was so well received at O=MEGA in Melbourne.
Agnes: Importantly, we encourage our frame designers to collaborate with optometrists because frames are not just a piece of art – as we mentioned before, they must also be functional and well-balanced.
From panto sizes to bridge shapes and even plating colours, every aspect is carefully considered, discussed, researched, and verified. Details like vertex distance to panto tilts and form weight are all important considerations. To get things absolutely right, we draw concepts in 2D and 3D, experiment with the details, play with colour – individually and in combination – and experiment with processes to ensure the best coatings and fitting.
Q. Is there an iconic RYAN ADDA style?
Ryan: Yes, definitely. While every collection offers divergent choices, our core value remains the same: ‘Visibility is Life’. Our frames will make the wearer stand out by becoming a part of them, and by enhancing their style and natural beauty.
Agnes: At a more functional level, every frame is marked with our stamp – a circle enclosing our brand initials RA. The circle denotes bonding, and most importantly – timelessness. Just as there is no end to a circle, our frames are iconic and classic to transcend things like time, trend, and fashion. All our frames are eternally stylish and will always be in vogue.
Q. Tell me about the production process.
Agnes: We have our eyewear manufactured in the same factories that produce eyewear for major eyewear brands around the world. Getting these factories to produce for us in smaller quantities isn’t easy, but having their guidance to create frames of the highest quality is something we’re proud of.
Our designer frames are crafted from lightweight materials like titanium from Yamauchi Japan, high-quality eco-friendly acetate, and OBE hinges from Germany.
Titanium is not just ultra-lightweight – it is also highly durable, hypoallergenic, noncorrosive, and biocompatible. Acetate is also lightweight, durable, and hypoallergenic.
Q. What do you think will be the new big trend in eyewear?
Ryan: The world is a chaotic place and we all seek calmness, peace, and tranquillity. This quest for becoming one with nature will manifest as the latest trend in every aspect of life. To narrow it down to the eyewear industry, the inclination now is for functional eyewear that fits today’s pace of life and does not overwhelm the wearer. Nostalgic eyewear shapes – that give more attention to functionality and timelessness – are making a comeback. In terms of colours, pastel shades to match the nudes will be most in demand.
Q. What do you have in the pipeline?
Agnes: We have lots in our pipeline and we continue to experiment with exciting shapes and colours. As you know, Ryan is very creative and he loves to break boundaries, so you can expect a lot of trendy, fashionable, yet iconic eyewear from RYAN ADDA in future.
Visit: www.ryanadda.com.
