Maison Jean-François Rey

Jean-François Rey belongs to a generation of renowned designers who revolutionized the approach of eyewear in the 1980s by transforming the «medical device» into a genuine fashion accessory. CEO of JF Rey, Jean-François Rey is renowned on the international eyewear scene for his creativity and his independent approach to design. He started to imagine his first models for the family business. Then his reputation goes very fast: he created his first company (IDC) settled between Marseille and Paris, travels in the world (he falls in love with Japan), and multiplies the collaborations with the ready-to-wear brands in vogue in the 80s such as Issey Miyake, Agnès B., Bensimon etc.

30 years later the brand JF Rey still makes a strong style statement! Without ever betraying his heritage, and as an independent player, Jean-François Rey has imposed his brand and confirms his ability to continually renew his design, to always go far in innovation and aesthetics.

Today he gives style and character to the men and women who wear his glasses, working with his wife Joëlle, Artistic Director of the Maison Jean-François Rey. Since they met, their love for stylish eyewear has never faded. Together they highlight collections of prescription glasses and sunglasses high-end of a new kind. The adventure has since continued, based on fresh encounters, enthusiasms and a philosophy built on high standards, know-how and entrepreneurial freedom.

Headquartered in Marseille, Jean-François Rey is surrounded by talented personalities to imagine his original glasses and work on the revival of French design. Made up of 4 designers, each dedicated to a specific brand, the creative team works like a think tank that thrives on mutual participation and a great freedom of expression. The creative energy found in the collections is based on Jean-François Rey’s driven philosophy which encourages designers to take risks in order to interpret shapes, volumes, materials and textures differently. It is a constant leitmotif at JF Rey, a key value. The frames are entirely imagined and designed by the design studio, before being entrusted to the expert hands of the manufacturing workshops. The design studio is now coordinating all the essential steps in the design process: artistic direction, product design and production coordination with the Jura manufacturers.

For Olivier Mollard, Head of Design, the JF Rey design is above all the expression of a permanent cultural and creative wealth on which the brand’s know-how is based. A desire to reverse trends and propose new artistic languages to surprise and please. From this uninhibited approach come the most beautiful ideas and the most original frames, out of the ordinary and challenging. To achieve such varied and full of personality designs, Olivier Mollard has the eye to capture and highlight the codes of his time drawing in different fields such as modern art, contemporary design, architectural culture, advanced technologies and fashion codes. Every sign, every detail, every little quirk is an opportunity that impels new artistic and technical possibilities. He delivers his own interpretation while still preserving a common thread running through the different collections and leaving no details to chance. The desire expressed here is that one of an irreproachable and well-balanced frame; a perfect design object at one beautiful and desirable, functional and comfortable, and devoid of any apparent technicality. It’s a constant obsession to design striking silhouettes and to achieve designs of excellence that are equally unique and stand out on their own.

The success of the JF Rey brand comes from the visual strength and the artist temperament of its models crafted as fascinating works of Art, unique and full of varied emotions, a kind of “joie de vivre”. The artistic direction of the collections aims for exciting visual effects further enhances with contrasts of shocking colours, expressive combinations and unexpected graphic constructions.

The original and distinctive signature of the brand lies in the supreme inventive use of luxury materials such as sustainable wood, natural leather, top-graded metal, exceptional titanium or sophisticated acetates. The emphasis is on the mastery of colours, textures effects, materials of excellence and iconic detailing led by the expertise of the brand in the colourful metal frames. The designer has built a legacy of impeccable quality and sophisticated style that rely on the perfect synergy of craftsmanship and advanced technologies. Discretion or revelation, the JF Rey brand offers a thousand way to work silhouette, from the most sober style to the most original.

Resulting from an important technical and visual research, the WAVE frames stand out for their architectural and aery design. The modern and asserted graphic style of the fronts is obtained by separately folding and colouring thin stripes of stainless steel ribbons which criss-cross and are fixed to the lug on semi-rimless frames equipped with spring hinges. The designer cultivates here the codes of the contemporary design: a fascinating game where the thin lines of metal fold, intercross, superimpose and vibrate on the front in a lightweight and airy structure.

Materials of excellence, modern silhouettes, flattering fits and sophisticated design: the line CarbonWood proposes high-end prescription glasses that subtly mix retro codes with a contemporary design. It seduces urban and modern seeking for an elegant style, out of ordinary. The exceptional technicality and aesthetics of the frames are the result of the superimposition of extremely thin carbon fibers with natural wood essences carefully selected for their original beauty and subtle colur schemes that offer many creative possibilities. The natural hues of wood are combined with electric colors of carbon or metal. Sophisticated and contrasting combinations give the line its strong graphic entity. Textures and relief effects, FLEX hinge, impeccable finishes, extreme lightness and neat stylistic details: everything here is worked for the sake of refined luxury.

The stylistic richness and the creativity of the acetate materials hold in the artistic talent of Joëlle Rey. With an instinctive and very intimate way of selecting and manipulating the acetate, she has developed her own artistic language: the identity signature of JF Rey.

Colors and patterns come together in infinite combinations and give birth to exclusive creations developed with the Italian leader in acetate, Mazzucchelli. Graphic prints, textured surfaces, finishes, contrasting bi-colorations and striking monochromes highlight the distinctive styling of the design.

The mastery of colors and contrasted styles is a main focus in the JF Rey design process. It’s achieved from a very personal choice of colors sought to reveal the graphic aesthetics and stylistic details of the frames. In this field, Joëlle Rey is the expert. While relying on the handmade virtues of colorization, she creates her own repertoire from referenced colors and patterns that she assembles in her own way, with her particular artistic sensibility. The concept of nuanced color charts does not exist, the colors are constantly renewed and reinvented. There are no two identical frames in the collections. It’s a choice, it’s a trademark.

The JFRey Maison has six brands: JF REY, BOZ, VOLTE-FACE, KIDS&TEENS, 1985 and PETITE.

more. www.jrey.fr