This week has been a huge week with Montreal's own Vintage Frames Company. Lots of things in the works including the launch of our new Vintage Frames Shop. I was interviewed last week from a cool cat from Unbiased Writer. Interesting interview. Talks a bit about our past, present, and future. The full article on Montreal's Vintage Frames Company can be found after the jump!
UNBIASED WRITER EXCLUSIVE| VINTAGE FRAMES COMPANY
When it comes to vintage eye wear, Corey Shapiro, owner of the Vintage Frames Company leads the industry. With the largest selection of vintage eye wear in the world, Shapiro’s company has been the global leader for years. Known as the personal eye wear consultant to the stars, their collection consist of original unworn 50′s to 80′s brand name glasses from designers such as Cazal, Dior, Ray-Ban, Gucci, and many more. Vintage Frames‘s knowledgeable staff has worked closely with most of today’s top artists/entertainers to revive styles once popular. We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Corey Shapiro about his company. Check out the Q and A’s below:
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UNBIASED WRITER’S QUESTION & ANSWERS WITH COREY SHAPIRO
Q: Can you tell us about how your company Vintage Frames all started?
A: I’ve been in fashion my whole life. Vintage Frames was the result of me taking a pair of Cazal 951 glasses that my grandfather gave me, changing the lenses and making it my signature frame. This was before anyone was really wearing vintage glasses or large frames. It wasn’t popular, most people were afraid to wear anything large on their face. At the time, my staff and I were all sneaker collectors and figured that it was something that was gonna have presence in the future so I created Vintage Frames.
Q: What is involved in your selection process? How do you find the glasses?
A: We have specific ways of sourcing the frames, of course that is an in-house secret. We have over 100,000 frames in stock, hands down the largest selection of vintage frames in the world. All of the frames we sell are dead stock, and have never been worn before.
Q: We have seen celebrities such as Lady GaGa, Perez Hilton, Rick Ross, and Diddy wearing your frames, what has been some of your most memorable experiences thus far?
A: I like dealing with the original old school hip hop guys like Jazzy Jeff. I was able to get him the original frames he wore on one of his first albums. Seeing his reaction was great, I’m sure back then none of those guys probably though to keep their stuff. As fashion changed and their looks evolved, most of them got rid of their frames or lost them over time. I’ve done appointments with guys like Quest Love from the Roots who is a hip hop historian. Seeing him loose it over a pair of our frames was really cool.
A: Can you offer any style tips for wearing shades for our readers?
Q: Actually, we do things quite differently at Vintage Frames. It’s not about about how it fits your face. We fit the frame based on the attitude of the client. What a person portrays, the way they walk, its never fit to the face. Most of our frames are over sized anyways. I think that is what makes us unique, we asses the persons attitude and fit based on that. We aren’t gonna fit a little tough guy in small round Harry Potter frames, we would give him something to go along with his attitude.
Q: If you had to chose one pair of glasses that were your all time favorite, what would they be and why?
A: I would have to say the Cazal 951. Nostalgically, it was something that was given to me by my grandfather. Cazal gave me the opportunity to design my own special edition Cazal 951 to honor my life in the business. In terms of other frames, I’m a huge fan of the Ultra Goliath. The frames are the “official” old school gangster glasses.You’ve seen them in Casino, Oceans 11, even DMC use to wear them. I like big huge bold frames, and I have hundreds of them at home.
Q: What can we expect to see from you guys in 2011?
A: We are doing a project with Rick Ross right now. I’m going to be featured on Amber Rose’s T.V. show ‘Behind Her Shades.’ I’ll be working on some more collaborations you know, just evolving, and expanding into new markets. In addition, we have a book deal in the works right now that is going to concentrate on the fashion of eye wear. You can expect to see a lot from us this year.
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Be sure to check out their website here. Below are some photos of Vintage Frames’s collection. Be sure to let us know what you think?
Written by Oren Wilkes
