DARK HORSES: The sunglasses Bob Dylan wore for a tour of England in 1965 live on, thanks partly to Patti Smith, who said she wore roughly the same ones when her “Horses” album came out in 1975.
Now Los Angeles-based eyewear brand Jacques Marie Mage is introducing a limited-edition Patti Smith for JMM collection hinged on its popular Delean model, which was loosely inspired by Dylan’s cat-eye model.
“When I look back at photos from around the time that ‘Horses’ came out, when we were on tour, I was almost always in shades,” according to Smith, who was in Paris earlier this week for two concerts at L’Olympia to celebrate the anniversary. “Of course, they were the same as the ones Bob Dylan wore, whom I admired so much.”
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In press materials distributed Thursday, Jacques Marie Mage said the collection “pays tribute to her lifelong devotion to art, poetry and music.”
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To wit: Each pair of shades comes in a black linen box, the inner case reprising the Robert Mapplethorpe-lensed portrait used for the original album art. Also included is an oversize cleaning cloth, and a book featuring a selection of photos and handwritten lyrics curated by Smith.
Meanwhile, the lenses come in three colors that in name reference the 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud, an enduring inspiration and touchstone for Smith. In addition, the core wire comes engraved with lyrics from “Land” while the inner temples are foil-stamped with Smith’s signature.
In an interview with Smith on JMM’s website, she was asked about the rock-star connotations of wearing sunglasses.
Her reply? “To be honest, I hadn’t thought about it like that. It’s all about the fact I love dark glasses. When I was young, it was so normal — they made you look very European. I remember film stars like Marcello Mastroianni with his dark glasses — he was so cool. But they also allowed you to mix with people and keep a certain amount of anonymity and intimacy. You can be shy, or sad. At a funeral, they hide your tears. For me, all the symbolism of dark glasses is positive.”