Kiki Georgiou: I know this is an amazing story so tell us how the brand relaunched and the reasons behind it. 

Tracy Sedino: OK. We relaunched the company in 2002. Simon, Linda’s son, and myself are a couple. His parents had this commercial property in Islington, in a beautiful mews, that since the Seventies has been used as a warehouse. They were given permission to turn it residential so, it was up to Simon to go there and clean the warehouse, turn it into apartments and rent it. I went with him to help and as it turned out the whole warehouse, which is really big, four floors high, was from ceiling to floor full of sunglasses in boxes! 

KG: A real treasure trove!

TS: (laughs) and literally it was a build-up from the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, thirty and more years worth of stock…so technically it was vintage but is was new, it wasn’t second-hand. 

KG: Did you have any idea that they existed?  

TS: Not really! That was in 2002, the year that Lacroix took on Emilio Pucci following its acquisition by LVMH. Linda used to design for Pucci back in the Seventies and we had a whole bunch of original Pucci sunglasses so we thought we should really do something with them! We approached Harvey Nichols London and because they used to buy Linda Farrow back in the Seventies they were very excited to see the collection. They really loved it and our first order was with them, in the summer of 2002. From then on we were accepted into the Exhibition at London Fashion Week. In that summer we had to go to Italy, source factories to produce the packaging, rebrand, and be ready for September. I think in the first season we sold to maybe 50 stores worldwide, from Joyce in Hong Kong, to Barneys.

KG: So, those stories of discovering boxes in the attic really do exist, right?

TS: Yeah, wrapped in a duvet as it was December and really cold when we found them.

KG: Why do you think there was such a great response? 

TS: I think in the Eighties and Nineties a lot of big licensing took place, especially with Italian companies like Luxottica, Safilo and Marcolin, so between them these 3-4 companies had the license to every brand possible. With sunglasses everything looked generic apart from branding, and that’s why I think vintage became popular, it had character.

KG: It seems that until quite recently, sunglasses were not regarded as a fashion item in their own right. 

TS: Yes, there was no space for it. I don’t think it was even considered a fashion accessory. You used to buy one pair of sunglasses for the year until you found another pair, whereas now people are buying in a seasonal way. We came along with all these vintage designs, all original Linda Farrow, Pucci, Balenciaga as well because Linda designed for Balenciaga too back in the Seventies, and it was different. 

KG: Do you continue to sell those vintage pieces as well as create new designs?

TS: Yes, we still have our vintage collection but we keep it very exclusive and niche in select stores worldwide. We created the brand based on vintage but we didn’t want to be stuck with it because you can’t really move on from that, so a year and half after we launched Linda Farrow Vintage, a designer approached us and asked us to design and make their sunglasses. That was Eley Kishimoto, and our first collaboration and it was really successful. 

KG: Your collaborations have continued and grown, especially with young, up-and-coming designers. 

TS:  We have our own brand, Linda Farrow Luxe, a luxury line designed by Simon and myself, where all the materials used are of the highest quality, all metal is titanium and coated in 24K gold, the tips are made from buffalo horn. We then have Linda Farrow Collaborations, working with designers such as Yohji Yamamoto, we launched their menswear and are now going to launch the womenswear collection for the first time in Paris in October. We also work with Dries Van Noten, Raf Simons, Luella, Matthew Williamson and Eley Kishimoto and we also have a third line called Linda Farrow Projects which involves the younger designers, like Charles Anastase, Jeremy Scott, and for spring-summer ‘09 we’re also working with Giles Deacon, David David, Peter Pilotto, Todd Lynn, Jens Laugesen, around 15 designers in total.

KG: The bat mask you designed for Luella was so successful! 

TS: We only had two samples! We had to juggle them from one shoot to the next and prioritise the right magazines! We had a front cover in German Vogue with Claudia Schiffer, photographed by Mario Testino, it got amazing coverage.

KG: How do these collaborations take place, does the designer approach you or do you see somebody that you like first? 

TS: It’s a bit of both.  We love fashion, I know that sounds really cliché but we do, and a lot of the designers that we work with are either friends or people we really admire. 

KG: How much do you delve into the history of the brand and the original designs when working on the Luxe line and your collaborations? 

TS: We treat them as completely separate. The designers we work with have their own silhouette and we would never design anything that doesn’t fit in their collections. With the Luxe line, some designs have been taken by iconic Linda Farrow pieces and made to a better quality. We do a lot of crazy products for Luella and Jeremy Scott so we keep Luxe luxurious, very wearable and very classic. 

KG: What do you see as the new look for next season? 

TS: Something that started last season and is definitely trickling into this season is the geeky look, Luella did the geek sunglasses last season and Dries Van Noten did something similar as well. They are smaller, more rounded, more intellectual I guess. We can see a trend build up with a lot of the designers we work with. And I think a lot more optical glasses as well, NHS geeky optical frames!

KG: Geek chic!

TS: Exactly! 

KG: What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to keep the brand small and niche? 

TS: A lot of the designers we work with are growing so we can appeal to more people through them. We’ll never become a Rayban as such. As soon as you reach that level, the minute you become too big and sell to too many places you start to lose your fans and your loyal customers so I don’t think we’ll ever going to be huuuge but we do want to grow our business in different ways. We try to work with different designers that appeal to different audiences so, the type of person that buys Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten or Veronique Branquinho is not going to buy Luella or Matthew Williamson or House of Holland, but is still someone that likes fashion and wants something unique that you wont find in a David Clulow or Specsavers.

KG: Are there any plans to open a store?

TS: It’s something that we’ve been thinking about so hopefully! We’re just in the process of looking into it. It will be a multi-brand boutique, a luxury eyewear experience.

KG: What can we look forward to for the new season, any exciting collaborations? 

TS: I can’t say too much yet, but there are going to be some really amazing pieces! Raf Simons did some great ones as did Dries Van Noten for womenswear, and Yohji Yamamoto! There’s a really great concept there, mixing futuristic elements, where bits come apart so yeah… it’s a really great collection for next season!