CFDA Eyewear Designers Announce Result of 2023 Pride Initiative

The Eyewear Designers of the CFDA (edCFDA) is pleased to announce the collective donation of $53,600 to the TransLatin@ Coalition, bringing the 2023 Pride Eyewear Initiative to its conclusion. The edCFDA is equally excited to announce the expansion of this charitable program from five to seven designers for 2024, all of whom will be announced shortly, along with an anticipated launch event in New York City in March.

For 2023, the designers of Blake Kuwahara Eyewear, Christian Roth Eyewear, Krewe, L.A. Eyeworks and Selima Optique, each created a limited edition sunglass design, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Translatin@ Coalition, which is now the nation’s largest service and advocacy organization providing for the needs of the transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex community.

Of the donation, Translatin@ Coalition President and CEO Bamby Salcedo notes, “We extend our deepest gratitude to l.a Eyeworks, Blake Kuwahara Eyewear, Christian Roth Eyewear, Selima Optique, and Krewe Eyewear for their generous donations. These funds empower us to strengthen our communities’ infrastructure and advance our mission. It’s heartening to see intentional companies like these recognize the significance of supporting trans-led organizations. Together, we are building the power of our people. Thank you for your invaluable contribution!”

The edCFDA Pride Eyewear Initiative is an annual charitable venture driven by independent eyewear designers of the CFDA to target and highlight specific needs within the LGBT+ community. Of the Initiative’s expansion into its third iteration in 2024, Christian Roth notes, “We are grateful for the support of the retailers who embrace our collective efforts to support a charitable cause through design. A meaningful way to make a positive impact on the community.“

Details regarding the designer participants for 2024 and the launch event are forthcoming in February. For inquiries, please contact christianroth@opticalaffairs.com.

To learn more about the TransLatin@ Coalition, please visit www.translatinacoalition.org

ABOUT BLAKE KUWAHARA
Blake Kuwahara debuted his eponymous eyewear collection in 2015 with his artful but wearable design ethos and signature “frame-within-a-frame” concept. By using a proprietary lamination process, Kuwahara creates a deliberate design tension by fusing two distinctive silhouettes. Kuwahara’s designs are available in high-end optical boutiques worldwide and in such discriminating specialty retailers as L’Eclaireur (Paris), Selfridges (London), Harrods (London), Isetan (Tokyo), Hotoveli (New York), H. Lorenzo (LA), and The Archive (San Francisco).

ABOUT CHRISTIAN ROTH
Christian Roth Eyewear has reveled in its hard-earned reputation as one of the world’s leading optical designers for subverting the conventions of luxury fashion. Christian Roth was the first eyewear designer to join the CFDA. Now, as a part of DITA Group, the storied label deconstructs its own archive to begin a conversation with a generation of consumers for whom a new paradigm of style and design has gained traction with breathtaking speed.

ABOUT KREWE EYEWEAR
KREWE was founded in 2013 by Stirling Barrett, a New Orleans native & creative entrepreneur. Much like its home city of New Orleans, KREWE adopts unique and eclectic essence from afar and embraces elements of culture and design from around the globe. The artistic influence from architecture, music, and celebration provide communities with an escape from the mundane, and a treat for the inspired. The brand experience rewrites the concept of hospitality with retail environments that entertain familiar guests and perfect strangers alike. These spaces welcome social exchange and playful discovery; it is a place with the ability to adapt. KREWE hand-made quality products design a conversation. Eyewear is a talking point, where either side of the lens gives visibility to a unique point of view.

ABOUT L.A.EYEWORKS
L.A. Eyeworks makes imaginative and uniquely crafted frames that change the way people think about eyewear. Designed in Los Angeles by co-founders Barbara McReynolds and Gai Gherardi, L.A. Eyeworks’ award-winning glasses are known for their bold shapes, imaginative handling of materials, and expressive use of color. With trademark wit, socially charged messages, and a spirit of creative adventure, the provocative brand vocabulary of L.A. Eyeworks has infiltrated the pop culture landscape from fashion to publishing to art and film. L.A. Eyeworks is a privately owned house of optical imagination, encompassing two namesake retail stores in Los Angeles and a wholesale company that channels its influential designs to a global network of independent opticians and retailers.

ABOUT SELIMA OPTIQUE
Selima Optique first opened its doors in SoHo in 1996, and now owns four stores across New York City, as well as two more in Paris. Trained as an optician and an optometrist, Selima Salaun pioneered the Soho neighborhood as a high-end optical retailer by introducing new and rare designs in both her signature candy colors and classic shades. Her eyewear has set the mood for many seasons of fashion, with a diverse clientele of glasses lovers from all over the world. Selima’s creative gifts have been inspiring young designers from all fields over the world, and her business savvy has created her an empire that still reigns strong over 25 years later.

About the edCFDA
The eyewear-specific designers within the Council of Fashion Designers of America (www.CFDA.com) are known collectively as the edCFDA. This sub-group of the membership aims to inspire, empower and promote awareness of eyewear design and the vitality of the optical industry through promotion, education, mentoring and collaborative initiatives.