Silmo preview: RIGARDS x The Viridi-anne

The RG2004TVA clip-on glasses are the latest addition in this exceptional handmade collaboration series

A new frame has been announced in the ongoing RIGARDS x The Viridi-anne collaboration, a piece that beautifully defines the character and handcrafted excellence of this innovative artisan product line. Its gentle rectangular shape is inspired by sci-fi action film, Minority Report. 

From the top and bottom bars to the crescent side-pieces and negative spaces – harnessed as deltoid shape cut-outs -, all the hallmark elements of the collaboration are present, in an evolved form. The frame is immediately recognisable as a Rigards design, and yet it further explores the aesthetic of organic forms, and intriguing concave planes and beveled edges which the team explains draw influence from Naum Cabo’s Constructivist sculptures from over a century ago.

Handmade eyewear: RIGARDS x The Viridianne – RG2004TVA clip-on glasses – a new entry which will be on show at the Paris fair

The sunglass clip-on is adorned with a coiled motif — an ode to the Asian folk art of coiled-grass basket weaving from Tenki (once practiced by the Ainu people but now lost) to Anyaman Ribu-ribu (a traditional craft that lives on in the Malay world). Notably, the clip-on hides an invisible yet transformative impact, integrating with the frame, yet at the same time altering its front lines, which has the effect of creating what looks like two frames in one.

RIGARDS x The Viridi-anne RG2004TVA is available in 5 stylish colour ways. Every pair comes with a glasses case made from vegetable-tanned Santa Croce leather. For more information visit www.rigards.com and www.viridi-anne.jp