In 2016 Eleven Eyewear was introduced to the world and we designed and produced our first collection. Available exclusively at Sunglass Style, Eleven has grown year on year and is now one of our biggest brands.

We design our styles here in New Zealand with our unique kiwi customers in mind. We work on one big new release every year with additional product drops featuring re-releases of top sellers. So how does it work?

For a brand new model, we start with a concept drawing of the general shape and look. Here are examples drawings of of our new models Alexandria and Luxor.

Once we’re happy with the overall look we move to the technical drawing phase where we decide on all the elements of the frame including lens, temple and bridge measurements, the base (front curvature) of the frame, the size and type of hinges and other metal pcs, and the size and placement of lens etching and logos.

Once the sunnies are fully spec’d we look at frame and lens colours. Black is an easy one, but do you have any idea how many crystal browns and peachy tones there are?? Cool grey or warm grey? Blue-grey or green-grey? We compare and contrast hundreds of acetate and lens samples to get just the right matches for our beautiful new frames, finished with either gold or silver logos and temple etching.

Before production we also need to decide on the name of each style and generate pids, barcodes and technical info. Did you know that the inside of every Eleven temple shows the frame’s technical measurements? These can be really helpful when looking at size and for those customers interested in prescription lenses.

What’s in a name…?

The names of all Eleven models are cities, from Auckland to Zurich we’ve traversed the world and the alphabet! 2020’s main release were all named for famous university towns and included Cedar Falls, Cambridge, Ithaca, Princeton and Providence. Following on from the success of Cairo, this season’s Alexandria and Luxor are also named for Egyptian cities with rich histories, check them out!

What towns or cities would you name the next Eleven collection after? Our top 5 fave name ideas will win a pair of new Eleven sunnies! Let us know your name and the style it matches… a tiny cat-eye, oversized aviator? What’s your style? And you never know, it might just feature in the next collection!!

Competition closes Friday 11th Feb!