Oliver Goldsmith

In 1926, Philip Oliver Goldsmith started a revolution in glasses wearing. At a time when cumbersome frames had been made from expensive metals and tortoiseshell, Goldsmith started fashioning frames from brightly coloured acetates.

"I can trace back every design out there to something we did 20 or 30 years ago and you realise that we've become iconic design inspiration" - Claire Goldsmith

10 years later, Charles Goldsmith continued the tradition for innovation with the concept of sunglasses as a fully-fledged fashion staple. The first range, stocked in Fortnum & Mason and Simpsons of Piccadilly, sold out within a week and the glasses graced the pages of Vogue and Queen.

80 years on, Philip Oliver Goldsmith's great granddaughter, Claire Goldsmith, is about to open a new showroom in Notting Hill. Having closed their doors in the 1980's, Claire feels it is time for the quality and bespoke services that Oliver Goldsmith represents to make a return. She recalled the original craftsmen, now in their 70's, out of retirement to harness original techniques and raided forgotten warehouses of abandoned acetate to create new collections from vintage stock.