The Making of Bespoke Eyewear, An Acetate Kitchen and Collecting Famous People’s Heads

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In this episode, Dee speaks with Tom Davies, founder of The House of Tom Davies and bespoke frame designer to the famous and non-famous alike. Dee and Tom discuss the history and future of his company, all the film projects he’s worked on and his cheeky outlook for the remainder of the year. Not only is the episode full of fun stories told in a fantastic accent but if you love British humor you’ll chuckle all the way through.

This year The House of Tom Davies turns 20 thanks to his first press write up appearing in the FINANCIAL TIMES two decades ago … more on how he plans to celebrate later in the year. At 5:30 he runs through the brands now under The House of Davies umbrella and what each one stands for.

Nearly 10 minutes in he explains about why movies often DON’T have glasses in them and how he’s built a reputation changing that. He then goes into a lot of detail on the film projects he has worked on and how he approaches each project … including why he has the disembodied heads of two A-List actors currently in his workshop.

Around 20:00, they segue into how he’s made his British bespoke business a global brand and why, in fact, a bespoke business actually works really well in different markets that want different things. He then fanboys over ECPs and opticians (27:50) with many kind words and shares a “top tip” for frame fitting (30:00). He shares that, though technology has helped with communication and backend organization, the way he makes frames hasn’t really changed from the way it has always been done (33:00) and that what’s important is the relationships.

Around 38:00 he explains where he sees his brands fitting in most dispensaries and why he tries to sell people horn frames in his own stores right off the bat (42:00). Finishing up, he shares his one-word outlook for 2022 and it is a good one!

Tom and The House of Davies will be at Vision Expo East with a huge booth and his acetate kitchen in The Atelier, so be sure to stop by and see what he’s cooking up.

Deirdre Carroll

Having built a career in service journalism, Dee has been covering the eyecare industry for over a decade. As editor-in-chief of INVISION Magazine, she is passionate about telling independent ECPs stories and can be reached directly at dee@invisionmag.com.