The Eyes Have It

Solakzade

What begins as but a hobby can often blossom into a full-fledged business, and so it was for the Osaka-based brothers Tatsuya and Ryo Okamoto, whose passion for collectible vintage and antique spectacles and sunglasses found them travelling the world in search of elusive and rare designs as well as end of line and discontinued stock.

Starting with early Mikli frames and progressing to vintage Goldsmith, Cutler & Gross and Wolfgang Proksch, the brothers soon found that there was a burgeoning demand for these hard to come by designs, and in 2007 they founded Solakzade from a small store in Osaka.

So enthusiastic was the response that in five short years, July 2012 saw the opening of a brand new Omotesando Tokyo showroom, which also doubles as an atelier for repairing, and grinding prescription lenses. With over 5,000 frames covering 80 decades to choose from, the stock has grown to encompass a vast range of desirable face furniture, from vintage Cazal to Pucci, Emmanuelle Khanh, Shuron, Boeing, Bugatti and of course the all-time classic Ray-Ban.

Can’t see what you’re looking for? No problem, the brothers are happy to customise the frames, or why not go the whole hog and have them design you a one-off pair. Talk about eye openers!