Q. What is your relationship with Linda Farrow the brand and the person?

My mother is Linda Farrow. She was the original founder, of course, and she started the company in 1970 in London. She was really the pioneer of fashion eyewear, turning the category into a fashion accessory. She designed collections with Emilio Pucci, with Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, and really established herself in the seventies. In the late eighties, she stopped the business. And then I ‘refounded’ it in 2003. So, it’s been 23 years now since I relaunched.

Q. What makes Linda Farrow special in this very crowded marketplace?

I think we are totally unique in our way – we offer a unique design, service, product, and lifestyle. And we’re pretty much the only luxury female-oriented eyewear collection. Brands like Dita, Jacques Marie Mage and Oliver Peoples – these are all very male-oriented, whereas our business is probably 70% female.

There is the luxury female consumer out there who’s looking for quality; something unique, something that empowers her and makes her feel special. That’s the whole point of what we do.

Q. Tell me more about the consumers you are designing for.

Our customer is an empowered, freethinking individual. And when I say individual, I mean they are truly individual. They’re not cookie-cutter. They’re not wearing what everyone’s wearing just because. They go to the stores and look for something that’s unique and interesting; something not every kid is wearing on the street. It’s not just the same old, same old. Our customer really is a leader.

We’re trying to elevate their emotion as well as how they look. How you look is how you feel, sometimes. It’s our goal to elevate and empower.

Q. Given your mum was the brand’s original founder and designer, what was it like to take hold of the reins?

I’ve learned the ropes of product categories since birth, really; it’s something I’ve been around all my life. But when it comes to design, I think that’s what I’m truly passionate about – the design, the product, getting into those fine details that really make the difference in luxury. Sure, there’s the sourcing of materials – pure Japanese titanium, the gold plating, the acetates, the lenses that we select. We work with all the details, but it’s the design, the intricacies, the technicalities of the way the frame works and fits the customer; this is something that you can’t get from what I call the high street brands, the mass-produced brands. With Linda Farrow, you’re getting something really special. This is my passion.

Q. What’s your approach to designing?

It’s about bringing my own ideas and aesthetic to the product and re-imagining it within Linda Farrow – which is all about fashion. The seventies and eighties aesthetic is a pillar we hold on to, but our point is that fashion evolves. There has to be an evolution to the product, the range, and the category.

Sometimes it’s just a slight nod to the heritage of Linda Farrow, because shapes, designs, and trends – they change over time. We’re leading those trends. But we’re not a hype brand. It’s not about doing some weird, wonderful thing for the sake of it. We are about timelessness. You can wear our frames for a lifetime.

Q. What strong and prevalent trends do you see in 2026?

From a simplistic perspective, the aviator is back in a big way. I feel like the aviator went off a little bit, but from a fashion perspective, a very trend-focussed perspective, it’s back with a vengeance. We are very strong on aviators – we’ve got a lot of strong styles, fits, and sizes. So that’s good news for us.

Q. Can you describe the production process?

We’re working with the best Japanese artisans, and they don’t rush; you can’t rush quality. So, our frames, from initial design ideas to hitting the shop floor, take 22 months. It’s huge.

There’s the whole development – from the design process and technical drawings, to prototyping, selecting and ordering the raw materials.

We need to make sure that the ergonomics, the fittings, the balance of the weight – all these things that people don’t consider – are perfect. When you buy a pair of glasses and put them on your face, maybe you don’t know what’s gone into it, but you appreciate it. You feel it and you go, “This feels nice – the lenses are beautiful, the balance is right, it’s not hurting my nose. When I slide the frame on my face, it doesn’t stab me in the side.” Very small, subtle details are where luxury really goes to the next level.

Then there are stages like polishing. This alone can take four to six weeks. And a number of styles have two colours of plating. That process isn’t just double the time – it can take four times that of a normal frame – because you’ve got to do the taping off to make sure it’s perfect.

Q. How would you describe the latest collection?

It’s called the Office Hours collection, and it’s all about the female boss; female empowerment. We love to empower and raise the profile of our female customers. It’s that eighties power suit, Dynasty feel, and we love that aesthetic. We lean into it. I think that’s a trend that’s coming back, so we’re very much ahead of the curve.

Linda Farrow is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Kami Distribution. Visit: ka-mi.com.au.