JH Reference Library: Cat Eye in Context
This week we introduced an entirely new objet to the JH family — the Freyja trio, a limited edition collection of cat eye sunglasses.
As a quick primer on the shape — in the 1930s, bored by the underwhelming convention of eyeglasses, American sculptor (and randomly NY tobacco heiress) Altina Schinasi, set out to create a frame that conveyed “whimsy, mystery and romance.”
“Then I thought, what would be good on a face and I thought of a mask…”
Altina's cat-eye design paid lip service to the upswept, exaggerated framing of Venetian court masks.
The style was bold for its debut, marking a distinct departure from the previous emphasis on the rounded, simply-designed frame of function.
Cat-eye glasses – established now as a proper fashion accessory – became an undeniable trend by the 1960s (with the help of Audrey Hepburn a la Breakfast at Tiffany’s.)
Our style’s namesake Freyja, the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology.
Freya (or Freyja) was the “cat goddess" of love, sex, beauty, magic, and sexuality, infamous for her fondness of fertility, fine material possessions, and felines. A known cat-lover, Freya is often represented in mythological texts as a gray cat.
