Le Corbusier, Jackie Kennedy and Yves Saint Laurent were all clients at Maison Bonnet. No wonder: the glasses from the famous manufacturer send a message of authority. A self-experiment.
There's also a bit of French comedy at play: How do you look dignified when three people are staring expectantly but critically in your face? Like you're about to recite a complicated poem, but you're worried that the words have been forgotten and there's parsley stuck in your teeth. Luckily there is a lot of laughter and discussion in the rooms of Maison Bonnet. Empathetically negotiated a custom-made item with conspicuous consequences – it should be a new pair of glasses. One that fits the face perfectly and underlines one's own type: “It's about nothing less than identity,” says Frank Bonnet, one of the bosses of the house, who runs it together with his brothers Steven and John in the fourth generation. “Shoes, suits, bags. Nothing is comparable,” he adds.
The trip to Paris, to the famous eyewear manufacturer, is also a trip to yourself. You could also travel to London; The house recently opened its first branch in Mayfair. The proof that glasses can be used to create more than just a look, but rather an image and possibly even an entire world of imagination, is revealed in Maison Bonnet's customer list: Imagine a personality of the 20th century whose glasses are in the style of memory – and you can most likely assume that these glasses were once made in this atelier in a passage behind the Palais Royal. Audrey Hepburn, Yves Saint Laurent or Jackie Kennedy-Onassis, for example. Three people for whom their glasses became a trademark, almost a costume. Paradoxically, the stars were able to hide well behind their models and still be recognizable to the whole world.
When Alfred Bonnet opened a small workshop in the Jura region of France in 1930, the world of the beautiful and powerful was still far away for him. His son Robert brought the business to Paris in the 1950s. It didn't take long before illustrious customers became aware of his art. For example, one of the most striking glasses in design history, Le Corbusier's, was made by Robert Bonnet in collaboration with the architect. Picasso and Jacques Chirac were other early bonnet wearers.
In any case, Frank Bonnet advises against any kind of disguise with the striking frames of famous personalities: “Many people come here and want the look of Onassis or Corbusier. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't, and we say so. If you decide on someone else's design from the outset, that's only half the fun.” Ultimately, it's about finding your own personal statement glasses – and depending on your personality, they can also be discreet. That's true – because my own efforts to achieve an elegance like Hepburn's always collide with everyday life, my talent is probably not quite as developed as Picasso's, and no one buys the eccentricities of Monsieur Laurent.
Today the house offers around 500 basic designs from all eras. “Each of them was designed specifically for someone,” says the boss. Today, these models result in endless variations, because in the end the customer's physiognomy dictates exactly what the end product should look like. Nobody enters the small, dimly lit sales rooms and immediately leaves with a new pair of glasses. The frame and the owner find each other in a predetermined process and over several appointments: “I may ask you questions that sound crazy, but we have to find out as much as possible about your lifestyle,” explains Morgane Oudine-Maury, an employee of the house . So a kind of therapy session? “Much better,” she says and laughs. Together with the optician Pierre Kraus and boss Frank, she asked me questions about how I work, how I live, how I would define my own style, and what I hope to achieve from the new glasses. Big questions, the answers to which I had already thought about in advance.
While I previously thought that glasses just had to look good on me, studying the photos of the Maison's customers gave me completely different ideas. Sure, glasses underline your own identity, but they can do so much more. They also send a message of power and personal authority. They enhance the charisma of their wearer. Tickle profile even from otherwise average faces. Judging by the photos, men have long been using this secret to their advantage.
Even though Sofia Coppola or the American ambassador to France have just picked up their latest model, most of the names on the boxes in the studio, the contents of which are waiting for the new owners, are masculine. Frank Bonnet's theory on this: “Men decide once who they want to be and what they want to represent. Women prefer to play with their identity.” This also means that men may buy several versions of the same glasses, women follow fashion, are less likely to commit themselves and see less sense in spending more money on a pair of custom-made glasses than on one good pair of shoes. Which is a shame, because your own face is hardly a fad and the fear of becoming too attached is also unfounded: nothing is easier to take off than glasses.
My brief to the team is: I want grown-up, elegant glasses with a built-in men's trick. That means one that gets me taken seriously before I even open my mouth. Learning from men also means playing with trappings of authority. And since Frank Bonnet explains that the glasses should never overshadow the face, that they should best be acknowledged as an almost natural part of the body, I am reassured – they will not disguise me.
Pierre Kraus now opens the drawers, takes out a frame here and there and spreads out a selection. I really like the first model, but the experts tell me back: “Don’t focus on your face in the mirror. Please check the effect in full size,” said his colleague. It depends on the relationship to the entire body, on the nose of course, on how the eyes and pupils are related to each other, and on the look in general. A big mistake would be to cover your eyebrows. This would work with sunglasses, but something strange happens with everyday glasses: “It’s a similar effect to Botox. The facial expressions of the person wearing glasses can no longer be read without the movement of the eyebrows; it is disturbing,” says Frank Bonnet.
After almost two hours of role-playing in front of the mirror, the decision is made on a shape, then it's all about material and color. You can choose from Japanese acetate, buffalo or turtle horn. The latter has been banned from being imported into France since 1973, but Maison Bonnet still has remaining stocks, some from the first half of the 20th century – and they can still be processed today. Accordingly, the cost of glasses made from natural material tends towards small cars, with the price being open depending on the color shade. Buffalo horn, on the other hand, is a waste product of the meat industry and the shine and grain are not quite as perfect as turtle horn, but it also has that certain warmth and depth that makes horn so special. The costs for this are in the lower it bag range.
However, Frank Bonnet recommends starting with the cheaper acetate the first time and working your way up as you like it. So all that remains is the color. My choice is “dark cherry”: “It's not as hard as black and gives a nice complexion,” is the opinion of the employees. At the end of the session, my skull and face are measured with a device that is somewhat reminiscent of dark chapters in natural science. Here, however, it is done with the best of intentions, because the prototype has to be adapted to the physical conditions. Then my eyesight is measured one floor higher. I am released with only anticipation in my luggage.
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Two months later: reunion with the team in the basement of Maison Bonnet. Here the tiny workshop is located in a vault with simple workbenches and worn armchairs. The opticians are noticeably young, music is playing in the background, and the atmosphere is relaxed. The revival of craftsmanship can be viewed here. There is a lot of coming and going, someone is dropping off chocolates – just like that. My glasses are ready and so am I, but wait: “Now comes the finishing touches,” says Frank Bonnet. It takes him almost two hours until the frame fits the way he wants it, namely in such a way that “you forget that you even have the thing on your nose.” To do this, it is filed and processed with a gas flame. Again and again the master puts it on my nose, looks intently, jerks it around, my patience is put to the test. At the end they engrave my name on the hanger. And then everyone is almost as happy about the end product as I am: “Every pair of glasses is always something unique,” says optician Pierre proudly.
Although in my case there is still a little secret to be revealed: the model on which my unique piece is based was once also designed for a well-known personality. I now also carry the ghost of Arthur Miller on my nose. I take it as a sign. That there is a certain gap between us? “Fame is a youthful form of blindness,” the writer once remarked. But with these glasses I am now one of those who can see.
