Seeing Eye to Eye
Christian Roth and Sama’s Sheila Vance seem to have little in common, aside from the fact that they’re both celebrating milestones in the eyewear business— he, 25 years; she, 20. Vance is best known for her adventurous yet elegant styles and innovations, like layering metals with plastics. Roth, meanwhile, is famous for pioneering the rimless frame, his use of titanium and delivering sleek glamour. Their entrées into eyewear design vary, too. Vance’s story begins in 1989, when, as owner of a shop called Cyxtyz, she and her ex-husband purchased the Bada optical firm. Eight years later, she went out on her own and launched Sama. Roth, however, has a certain swimsuit model to thank for his career. As an opticianturned-photographer’s assistant, he was sent to buy a pair of shades for a New York shoot with Cheryl Tiegs. “I couldn’t find anything. So they told me, design it yourself,” recalls Roth, who went on to launch his company with Eric Domège in 1984. Still, for all those differences, put these designers together and the pairing couldn’t be more perfect. Here, the industry vets chat.
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Christian Roth: Sheila, we go back a really long time, to 1985, when it used to be the Fashion Accessories Exposition at the Piers in Manhattan. You had this amazing accessories store called Cyxtyz in Beverly Hills and you were purchasing from us.
Sheila Vance: The very first buying in sunglasses I ever did was Christian Roth! How do you think the eyewear market has changed since we started back then?
C.R.: Big, big change. I mean, when we started, not everybody had a pair of sunglasses and in today’s world, everybody owns a pair and people are building wardrobes of sunglasses. Let’s talk about iconic eyewear moments—do you have a favorite? For us, we’re living now in Monte Carlo and we were just able to see some unseen footage of the wedding of Princess Grace. Not only the frames she was wearing herself as she arrived for her wedding, but also the [sunglasses] among the jet-set guests. It was heaven.
S.V.: I have to say, I always love Marcello Mastroianni. I don’t know if you saw 8 1/2 or La Dolce Vita. He wears the sunglasses so elegantly. He understood the power of sunglasses to create an image. And Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair. I can’t deny that every time I see Brad Pitt in our frames, I have the biggest smile of life.