Take a peek at the affordable and chic readers and sunglasses collaboration between Vancouver style icon Susie Wall and West Coast eyewear brand Claudia Alan.
The capsule collection of fashionable frames, called C4: Canadian Creative Collaborative, also includes a charitable component, with $5 from every eyewear purchase going to the Cause We Care Foundation, a Vancouver-based foundation created by women for single mothers and their children.
"Ditch those dingy drugstore readers and slip on C4s," Wall, a member of the board of directors for Cause We Care, said in a media release. "Every detail of the collection has been designed with so much thought - from the online shopping experience to the packaging that arrives on your doorstep. And I'm so thrilled that every pair purchased gives single mothers in need the hand up they so desperately need via Cause We Care."
The Claudia Alan brand of eyewear, designed by North Vancouver's Carla Taylor, has long had a tradition of helping others.
"I started my company in 2003, and I've always had a mission of giving back," says Taylor. "Beauty and giving back are centre to what I do."
Through her iconic AYA line, Taylor collaborated on an eyewear collection with First Nations artist Corrine Hunt, co-designer of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals. Partial proceeds from the unique art-inspired eyewear collection go toward a breakfast program for First Nations children in Ontario. Her company has donated more than $90,000 to the charity over the years.
The inspiration for her most recent collaboration with Wall started when Taylor discovered beautiful custom Italian-designed acetate.
"I was captivated by the material; it was so luxurious, I thought, 'I would like to bring something like that to market,'" she recalls.
Eventually, the designer asked Wall, who has served as an influencer for Nordstrom Canada, Smythe, Ted Baker London, and J. Crew, to help devise a collection that would make use of the gorgeous materials she came across on her travels.
During the creative collaboration, the team looked at inspirations, ideas, what worked, what didn't, eventually coming up with a capsule collection of luxurious readers and effortlessly cool shades - all with a classic, ever-stylish feel. Keeping the line at an affordable price point, the acetate materials were designed in Italy, but manufacturing is done in Asia. The line is optical ready, meaning they can handle a prescription lens. The collection harmoniously balances beauty, function, price and charity - which may sum up Taylor's personal ethos.
"It makes me feel good," the designer and mother-of-two says about the charitable aspect of her company. "I'm very rewarded by the fact that I can help with charities."
Visit claudiaalan.com/c4 to make a purchase from the new collection.
A version of this article originally appeared in our sister paper, the Westender.
