The shelf · 06 makers
A small shelf of small makers.
Custom Lens Express started as a single house line. Today we stock five other studios — each chosen by Inês, each making fewer than 200 frames a year.
CLE workshop
House line · Featured
Custom Lens Express
Lisbon, PT · Founded 2019 · 84 frames in stock
Our own line. Designed in the front room, finished in the back. We make what we'd wear, then we put it on the shelf.
Kintsugi
Kyoto, JPEst. 2016
A two-person studio in Kyoto reviving the lost art of laminated acetate. Each frame takes a month.
Repaired-aesthetic acetate →
North/South
Copenhagen, DKEst. 2014
Slim titanium frames, hinged like a Swiss watch. The lightest pair you'll ever own.
Titanium engineering →
Carouge
Geneva, CHEst. 1962
Buffalo horn frames, sourced ethically and shaped by a father-and-son team near Lake Geneva.
Vintage horn →
Sotto
Milan, ITEst. 2011
Brutalist wireframes by a former industrial designer. Stark, sculptural, surprisingly comfortable.
Architectural metal →
Mira
Lisbon · Lagos, PTEst. 2018
Polarized sun frames built for the Atlantic coast. Mineral glass lenses, sea-salt tested.
Sun specialists →