Design Eyewear Group designers modelling ‘Censur’ while unveiling ‘Dance’ to international media at Silmo 2024

Design Eyewear Group (DEG) unveiled its new Dance eyewear collection, born from a unique collaboration between its French and Danish designers, at Silmo 2024.

Normally cocooned within their own DEG brands, including ProDesign, Face à Face, Woow, Nifties and Inface, the DEG designers were brought together nearly two years ago and given “a few days to go wild”, said DEG CEO Lars Flyvholm. “There were no limitations, no restrictions, no brand DNA to adhere to, we just wanted them to be really creative in their own way.”

There was also no requirement for them to develop a commercial frame design, he said, it was simply about giving DEG’s European designers some time and space to be creatively free. “They had a few days in Amsterdam, and I think they visited about 15 galleries and museums, to just draw ideas.” Of the 50 drawings shared, 20 prototypes were made, with two selected for commercialisation, Flyvholm said. These were the two launched at Silmo:

Censur for ProDesign – the frame’s Censur name stems from the distinctive beam that runs across the top of the lenses, reminiscent of a censorship bar, said DEG designer Lau Ruge. "Censur is about breaking the mould of traditional eyewear. We created something bold and futuristic, but also refined. The beam across the lenses was designed to evoke curiosity – it’s not just a design feature, it’s an invitation to see things differently.” The design also impressed the Silmo d’Or awards judges, netting the 2024 ‘Sunglasses – eyewear designer’ category award.

Censur by ProDesign

IM Perfect for Face á Face – inspired by the Japanese Wabi-Sabi philosophy, IM Perfect embraces the ability to see beauty and opportunity in the accidental and the unexpected, DEG said. “This design captures the elegance of a crack, a fractured lens over which a drop of gold seems to flow all the way toward the sculpted temple. Fragility transforms into strength, and asymmetry becomes an enduring symbol as we discover how our imperfections are the most precious parts of who we are.”

IM Perfect by Face á Face

Dance is not a brand or a collection, it’s a collaboration between the company’s designers, Flyvholm said. The name comes from ‘Dan’ from Danmark (Denmark) and ‘ce’ from France. “Normally we’d say it’s a capsule collection called Dance by ProDesign, but we turned it around because it's a Dance frame, which fits into the ProDesign brand, so we say it’s a ProDesign frame done by Dance.”

The initiative has been a huge success, Flyvholm says, noting how much the designers have enjoyed it and how it’s led to them incorporating much of what they’ve learned or been inspired by into their own brand’s designs. “We are a design company, a creative company, so while each of the brands have a certain DNA, we also want our designers to push the boundaries once in a while. So yes, this will definitely be an ongoing project.”