Francis de Lara Debut Trunk Show At the Peninsula
Fashion

Francis de Lara Debut Trunk Show At the Peninsula

Courtesy of Francis de Lara

To mark the launch of the ‘Tuxedo’ and ‘Jupiter’ designs, John-Paul Pietrus has teamed up with Janina by Jul Dizon to unveil his collection of eyewear and fine jewelry.

It’s a simple formula: deadstock semi-precious stones, 18K gold-plated titanium hardware, and UV lenses that makes up John-Paul Pietrus’ eyewear brand. Founded in 2017, Francis de Lara is considered “the world’s first fine jewelry-eyewear house,” offering sunglasses and accessories inspired by the opulent characters in Renaissance paintings.

An accomplished fashion and beauty photographer, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design graduate took up a jewelry course at the Metallo Nobile in Florence and submersed himself into Italy’s culture capital. While roaming the distinguished Uffizi Gallery, famed for its prolific collection of art, including Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Caravaggio’s Medusa, he struck revelation when the sun blazed into his eyes.

He put on his shades and thought to himself, “wouldn’t it be cool if these Renaissance characters had Renaissance sunglasses to complement their clothing and jewelry?” Following his fresco induced enlightenment, John-Paul designed a collection of sunspecs from his jeweler’s perspective. He found a niche (with the exception for Anna Karen Karlsson) in an untapped market, as most brands have conventional metal and acetate frames.

Courtesy of Francis de Lara

“We have fine jewelry houses such as Bulgari and Cartier that have incredible jewelry, but the eyewear is barely, or not at all related to their jewelry…I think they should hire me,” he playfully confesses during our Telegram interview. With his extensive use of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and all things nice; it wouldn’t be an odd alliance.

In the realm of sunglasses, he admires the designs of Cazal, Mykita, and Peggy Guggenheim’s personal collection. Regarding the ideal Francis de Lara customer, he describes them as “cultured, intelligent, not just mentally intelligent but emotionally intelligent, refined, unique sense of style…someone who’s quite different and stands out of the pack.” But if he had to name-drop, it would be American painter John Currin or Tilda Swinton, “I would just die if she was wearing my piece.”

Alongside his bespoke mainline range of bijou encrusted sunglasses, retailing between five or six-figures, Francis de Lara offers a diffusion range called FDL Editions, without compromising his signature tear-drop gemstones. After receiving a DM order on Instagram from Janina Dizon last summer, the pair decided to team up on Zoom and arrange a trunk show together at her boutique in The Peninsula Manila Hotel.

This weekend, Francis de Lara will be debuting two new designs to compliment his core collection: the ‘Jupiter’ which was “an answer to consumers who wanted a smaller sized Aviator versus my first collection’s super-size Aviator,” and the ‘Tuxedo’ which came “from the heart” and took inspiration from the lines and shapes of a bowtie.

Francis de Lara is available to order online, and preview at the JANINA for Jul Dizon Boutique, in the Peninsula Manila Hotel on the Friday 7th and Saturday 8th February between 11am-6pm.

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