Sheila Vance, the internationally renowned eyewear designer and founder of Sama Eyewear, works with her husband, Ross Vance, towards one simple goal – to help as many children as they can. inMAGAZINE talks to the designer about her eyewear and her views on life.
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Loved by many royal members and Hollywood celebrities like Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sama Eyewear designs the world’s finest luxury fashion eyewear. Sheila Vance’s specially designed sunglasses are featured in dozens of blockbuster Hollywood films including “The Hours”, “Mission: Impossible III”, and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”, and have helped build many iconic characters in Hollywood.
All eyewear collections of Sama are handmade in Japan with the highest quality materials and most advanced production techniques as the designs are complicated and need precise execution. The uniqueness of Sama eyewear lies upon its quality, in which one of their newest collections, ‘Heart of Gold’, uses 24-carat gold and 18-carat white gold frames with Swarovski crystals. The company is also introducing a new edition to their ultra-premium luxury diamond sunglasses collection, which is made of the finest diamonds with a high-quality jewellery setting. “Our eyewear is so distinct and unique, we do not need a logo to emphasise ourselves,” Vance smiles.
WOMEN VS MEN
Designing sunglasses for men and women should not be the same. Vance says designing for women has fewer limitations as women wear vast colour combinations from fuchsia to charcoal to peony; they also wear an abundance of elements from snakeskin to titanium to feminine elements like feathers and pearls. For men, she focuses on masculine shapes, elements and colour combinations with distinctive and bold features. Vance summarises her own designs in three words: romantic, hope and luxury.
Among other forms of accessories, why did Vance choose to specialise in eyewear design? From the moment she needed to wear prescription glasses, she decided she had to design fashionable eyewear. Vance believes eyewear is the must-have item in the world of fashion. “Eyeglasses finish the look!” she asserts. A pair of appropriate eyeglasses is an effective way to change a look. One can be younger, older, sexier or more mature with the right pair of glasses. For Vance, she has over 20 pairs of eyeglasses in her car, which allows her to easily create a new look for different occasions.
With her already successful designs, Vance’s proudest achievement so far is when she sees many celebrities and other influential VIPs wearing Sama among the countless other brands on the market. Vance routinely attends and organises fashion shows in major markets as Paris, New York, Dubai and Italy - her next step? “I am hoping to organise a runway show to properly show looks to the elite in Hong Kong.”
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