THE ARCHIVE.
THEO BEGAN MAKING EYEWEAR IN 1987—BUT TO SAY THEY SIMPLY "MAKE GLASSES" WOULD BE A MAJOR UNDERSTATEMENT. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, THEO HAS WRITTEN ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN—AND INTERNATIONAL—EYEWEAR DESIGN.WE PERSONALLY TRAVELED TO ANTWERP, TO THE BRAND’S HISTORIC HEADQUARTERS, THE CREATIVE EPICENTER WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. INSIDE THIS BEAUTIFUL BUILDING LIES WHAT THE THEO TEAM AFFECTIONATELY CALLS “THE CAVEAU”THE CAVEAU IS A METICULOUSLY ORGANIZED SPACE LOCATED BENEATH THE BUILDING, WHERE THE GLASSES THAT SHAPED THIS STORY ARE CAREFULLY STORED AND PRESERVED.
WE DECIDED TO START WITH A SELECTION OF PIECES FROM THIS VERY ARCHIVE—SOME EXTREMELY RARE—WITH THE INTENTION OF KEEPING IT ALIVE AND CONTINUOUSLY ENRICHING IT. THESE ARE NOT JUST VINTAGE FRAMES; THEY ARE PIECES OF HISTORY THAT EMBODY A WORLD WHERE CREATIVITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN FREE—UNTOUCHED BY TRENDS, FASHIONS, OR MARKET DEMANDS.
