Dezeen Magazine

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

Tamar Canfi designs frames that "exaggerate and celebrate" thick lenses

Shenkar College graduate Tamar Canfi has designed a collection of purposefully unusual eyewear that emphasises rather than hides high-prescription lenses.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

Her Eyeglasses range, created as part of the industrial design bachelor's at the Israeli university, is intended to combat the negativity associated with severe myopia.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

"The existing frame designs don't suit the thickness of the lenses, and as a result they look odd, adding to the stigma attached to these kind of glasses," said Canfi, who started wearing glasses when she was eight and now has a prescription of -10.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

Her designs include a criss-cross frame that surrounds the eye in a diamond shape, and a pair made from several panes of overlapping transparent plastic – designed to create a "tunnel effect" – with a bright orange bridge. Another pair features half-moon-shaped details.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

"I designed unusual frames to exaggerate and celebrate the thickness of the lenses, and transform the idea of a disability into a bold fashion statement," added the designer.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

"My thinking was that to make this radical solution logical, I should go beyond the bounds of reason: extreme frames for extreme lenses," she continued.

"Many of the top fashion houses are now dictating trends that include exaggerated and oversized lenses, so why not integrate a genuine need with a new trend?"

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

Canfi experimented with several overlapping designs to begin with, creating versions in wood to test the final effect.

She used the lenses themselves as her final reference, designing 3D shapes intended to distort, much as the lenses themselves do. She's currently working on further prototypes that will be more ergonomic, and lighter for the wearer.

Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi

Earlier in the year, Israel's Design Museum Holon hosted a show that featured radical eyewear concepts, including spectacles designed to resemble the compound eye of a fly and a lens that's worn as an oversized ring.

Photography is by Yaara Agnon.

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Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi
Eyeglasses by Tamar Canfi