Style
VALLEY
EYEWEAR
“A refraction of light, a direction to darkness”
TEXT BY JOA BOHORQUEZ
PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL CRAWELY
Meet Michael Crawely, designer, photographer and art director
of the cutting edge Australian sunglass brand, Valley Eyewear—a
collection of dramatic, hand crafted eyewear that carries a
bold personality.
Valley Eyewear is the construction of a creative world with
no boundaries, which represents a movement of a somewhat
dark, fashion-forward cultural tribe. They are risk takers with
forward- thinking personalities and eccentric taste who are not
afraid to make a statement.
Take for instance the influencers that have obtained customized eyewear such as Kat Von D, Chris Hemsworth and
Kanye West.
These epic frames come from a selection of vintage piles of
acetates curated by MC during his travels. The strong and lightweight bio-plastic materials are then tattered and sampled to
find deep colors and unique fades. Each pair of glasses takes
twenty-five sets of hands to be completed and carries the lenses
of Zeiss Optics; long time experts in the field.
The designer has constructed a sharply polished and minimal
assemblage of progressive techniques that offers an eclectic collection of eyewear strong enough to enhance styles and moods
with a message that expresses individuality.
The final result is a confidence-boosting construction
inspired by architectural bulky angles that is perhaps not for
everyone, but rather for design driven individuals.
We wanted to hear more about this creative vision and got
to chat with Crawely.
“Since I’ve started the brand I’ve always wanted our brand
identity to be big and bold and almost somewhat of theatrical
like. I love to create scenes or sets where it makes you look at the
whole panorama and take it all in.”
When did you start the brand concept?
I started valley eyewear around three years ago. I began drawing
frames from scratch and wanted to create an eyewear line that
reflected my passion for architecture, and the somewhat darker
clean high fashion element of style that I was so drawn to.
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What does your role entail?
I shoot the photos on all our campaigns, art direct them and have
done the eyewear so being across the whole project from start
to finish ensures I get the look and feel for the brand that I’m
portraying to the people.
Can you tell us a little more about your collaborations with
other artists?
We brought together like-minded people into the mix. We
work with closely with Jesse Draxler, the guys at ATTAK in
the Netherlands and THEBLACKMATH in Melbourne. Lee
Brennan designs have crafted a ring collection for us.
Chelsea Wolfe also collaborated with her song on the film we
made for the last campaign. And I’m wor