April 08, 2022
JFREY
Interview of the Month
February 07, 2018
PLAY WITH COLOUR
Joelle Rey, Artistic Director, of JF Rey, BOZ, Volte Face, + Sky Eyes
Colour combinations offer a playground for exciting visual effects, giving a frame their special character, impact and creative individuality.
Joëlle Rey, Artistic Director, of JF Rey, has a wealth of experience in working with colour and playing with tones to highlight the face.
20/20 Europe spoke to her ahead of Mido.
Q: JF Rey is synonymous with colour innovation. How would you say that story has developed through the years?
A: We design colours with the same innovative approach used in the work we do with materials and the design. Every day is a new challenge. You’ll never see the same colour in every collection because we constantly work on new ones, new creative combinations. Our unique colour language is based on a very personal colour directory that we create and permanently enrich. It’s endless and this is our strength! Fashion codes, decorative tapestries, fabrics and art works inspire our work; I’m very much inspired when I travel, visit new cultures, or find new landscapes. My most recent trips off the beaten track (far from luxury hotels) to Bhutan and Malawi have opened new colour explorations. I just have to look at the tesserae of broken tiles, the stones in the walls, traditional dishes, a local market, the natural world or exceptional lights in the sky …and I get inspired.
Q: How do you approach colour for women to achieve a very feminine look on the face? Tell us about how you have developed this particular strength in you designs and what other areas influence you?
A: I’m in love with colour! It’s a wonderful form of self-expression and in a way, I’d say it’s an extension of the body. For feminine frames, I imagine colours as if they were ornaments, necklaces, tribal tattoos, foundations, lipsticks or black khöl. Colour also comes from movement, rhythm, and tribal dance. It is also a very primitive language, we observe in cave drawings, the colour which plays with the harshness of tone in rock, the darkness and the light of torches. Colours reveal emotions and feed my imagination, subtly driving my artistic work forward. I interpret all these “codes” in models for women with a very personal sensitivity, while obviously considering the shape and the materials. While BOZ Eyewear is a very colourful brand, distinguished by audacious and shocking colour contrasts, JF Rey explores a more “controlled” colour palette, always focused on the unique and unexpected.
Q: An example of your current direction with colour combinations is DOUBLE JEU. Can you explain this concept briefly?
A: DOUBLE JEU is a new concept but it’s also the name of the new JF Rey campaign (coming soon) that will guide our collections in 2018. It is a fascinating concept where two metal frames are superimposed, revealing an improbable aesthetic that plays on the creative duality with luminous contrasts of colours, an outstanding graphic design, offering lightness and extreme finesse. DOUBLE JEU is a pure JF Rey line which confirms our creative freedom, finding expression in the duality: you/me, top/bottom, recto/verso etc.
Q: Which tonal combinations are you using particularly in 2018 – are there some tones which are “in fashion” generally or do you prefer to remove yourself from ongoing fashion trends?
A: I’m a huge fan of green, in all its variations (khaki, emerald, anise or duck green) and I’m delighted that this trendy colour has been in our collections for more than three years…it is still used in the models coming for Mido.
I also use soft blue, pastels, peacock blue or denim, pure shades or contrasting combinations that shape personality and highlight the face. At last, as metal is very present in the new collections, I also worked on “earth colour charts” such as copper, ochre, gold and orange, as well as flesh tones that balance and soften a style.
Q: Highlight one of the collections launching at Mido and explain the colour direction. Do you prefer working with colour in metal or acetate, or do you love both?
A: The approach to colour is different in metal and acetate. I tend to think that colour concepts are a little bit more difficult with metal because it’s a “cold”, flat surface and not such a glamorous material! But it’s an exciting challenge which requires us to explore new coating effects, extreme pure colours, exceptional brightness, shocking or subtle colour contrasts that bring glamour, relief, texture and shine.
It’s different with acetate as it really offers infinite possibilities! We develop exclusive acetates in close partnership with our supplier Mazzucchelli 1849 who give us the chance to explore a much more varied stylistic register, patterns and colours.
For me, it is essential to explore metal and acetate combinations and find all the possibilities of each material for an outstanding and unique frame! Our new concept JF Rey FENDER plays with this duality using colours and brushed or patina metal effects underlined by glossy, refined acetates with Jacquard or Brocade designs…don’t miss this new line at Mido!
www.jfrey.fr
@myjfrey (Instagram)
