Ronit Furst Reviews

Eye Candy
By: LOOLWA KHAZZOOM
October 14, 2005

Not just what you look at, but what you look through

Ronit Furst was frustrated: contact lenses were uncomfortable, and glasses were boring. What was a girl to do? The artist and fashion designer, renown for her jubilant use of colors, decided to take matters into her own hands and create a new line of eyewear. "My impulse was to make crazy frame designs," she says, green eyes dancing behind turquoise and red polka dot glasses, "but I knew that wouldn't work -- I'd have to hold back. The shapes would have to be relaxed, because the colors would be wild."

Indeed, they are. The face of a cats-eye frame is deep red with orange polka dots; its edges are purple, with pink flecks and orange stripes; and each side is an asymmetrical combination of light violet, deep sea blue, clear yellow, and bright orange -- creating a look as inviting as an upscale candy store. truly original, with bold, playful designs hand-painted by Furst's staff of artists, Ronit Furst frames are now sold in exclusive eyewear stores throughout America and across the globe.

"I carry them because they are very unique, because they are hand-painted," says Fenton Allen, manager of Optical Illusion on Santana Row in San Jose, Calif. -- a high-end establishment where Fortune 500 businessmen, the San Francisco 49ers, and Hollywood celebrities mingle to buy eyewear. "It's something a little bit different, something I haven't seen on the market anywhere else."

They are a hot sales item, he adds, side by side with Cartier, Prada, and Chrome Hearts glasses. Customers get so excited when they see the frames, in fact, that they buy between two and five at once. This kind of feeding frenzy has led Vision Centre in Melbourne, Australia to place an ad that shouts (in capital letters), "Proud Stockists of Ronit Furst." Only then -- in small print -- does it mention also carrying the likes of Christian Dior, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana. "Ronit Furst frames are *definitely* going to catch on," predicts Allen, "because they are unusual and fun."

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Loolwa Khazzoom has published internationally, in women's magazines including Glamour and Marie Claire; in news periodicals including The Washington Post, BBC News, and Rolling Stone; in health periodicals including Health, Yoga Journal, and Massage; in teen magazines including ELLEgirl, Seventeen, and CosmoGIRL, and in numerous other media genres. (For clips, visit http://www.loolwa.com/articles). She is also the editor of The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage and author of Consequence: Beyond Resisting Rape.

Ronit Furst is a talented artist who until recently was best known for her ceramic designs. Over the past 20 years she has created hundreds of works of art.