By Christine Yeh

Great eyewear should be available to all, and designer David Duralde is on a mission to make this happen. As chief creative officer of Kenmark, Duralde thrives on his deep passion for creating well-designed eyewear accessible at every price point. With an eyewear design career spanning over 25 years, Duralde’s work has touched many—framing countless faces around the world. I personally had the honor of being “framed” by Duralde a few years ago during Vision Expo East. At the time, 20/20 filmed a series of trend videos titled “Eye Candy,” and Duralde was tapped by Editor-in-Chief James Spina to host a segment for Kenmark’s Vera Wang brand. I was one of the “models” in the video as Duralde eloquently explained the design inspiration of the latest Vera Wang sunwear collection, while fitting us with the sunglasses he proudly designed. I remember the striking impression he made. Given the opportunity to chat with Duralde about his work, I was intrigued to learn more about the man behind the frames. As with designers I have interviewed in the past, what I learned continues to enlighten me with newfound respect for the art of eyewear and the inspiration imparted by those who dedicate their heart and soul to it.


Like many celebrated eyewear designers, Duralde started his professional career in a field completely unrelated to eyewear. Growing up in Orange County, Calif., he spent summers at the beach absorbing the SoCal lifestyle and its surf and skate culture. His college years brought him to Los Angeles, where he attended UCLA studying liberal arts education. In LA he immersed himself in the city’s culture of looking and feeling good, assimilating the opportunity and optimism the city projected.

Opportunity indeed came knocking when he began working for eyewear design veterans Gai Gehardi and Barbara McReynolds of l.a.Eyeworks. But seven years would pass before he actually joined the optical world. Gehardi and McReynolds at the time were also in the restaurant business, co-owning CITY restaurant and Border Grill, where Duralde had stints as general manager. His introduction to eyewear arrived when McReynolds relocated him to her wholesale eyeglass division l.a.Eyeworks.

 Duralde worked closely with Gehardi and McReynolds as their product manager and considers himself formally trained by them. “From the 14 years that I worked with the two of them, I was trained in the way they think—they’re very eclectic and believe everything is interrelated, from eyewear to fashion to food to lifestyle—they don’t see any edges having definition. It’s all blurred and all a culture of beauty and design, and pushing the envelope with design. I really think of that as an apprenticeship in a way.” Duralde had taken drawing and design classes after college that helped express himself more concisely but it was the training he received from the two women that allowed him to truly get in touch with his internal design sense. “Working with those two creative icons for 14 years, I really learned to think in the way they thought about questioning everything... Why does the eyeglass frame have to have an eye rim? Why can’t we spray paint frames instead of having to anodize them or plate them? These are the kinds of questions they ask every day. And I’m still friends with them, I’m so inspired by the way they have so much energy and enthusiasm around eyewear like the commitment to making people look great in eyewear because they created glasses that they wanted to put on people’s faces, and they decided they have to make it themselves. It’s that entrepreneurial, ingenious sort of thinking that had driven me to tap that inside of me.”

The entrepreneurial spirit instilled by Gehardi and McReynolds launched Duralde into the next phase of his career with stints as director of product design for multiple eyewear manufacturers. Signature Eyewear was the first stop, designing the Eddie Bauer collection. Two years later, Duralde joined Kenmark at a time when the company was moving toward a new direction with a commitment to better design, particularly with new partnerships for licenses with Vera Wang and Thalia. Duralde was instrumental in the successful launches of eyewear collections for both brands, which marked the first time Kenmark designed entire eyewear collections from scratch. “We had a history those years where we didn’t really have any designer labels and hadn’t been designing product completely; it was more merchandising. And that’s when I came on board when Vera Wang and Thalia were signed, both of which were really successful for us. Those were our first collections where we started designing the entire collection from scratch. That really was a change of culture and a change of direction for this company.” Safilo was the next destination on his design path, and in addition to working on all of the company’s U.S. product collections, Duralde was also invited to do some optical pieces for Gucci and Giorgio Armani, which like most European brands at that time, were designed out of Italy.

The time spent designing for three different companies may seem like a whirlwind compared to his seven years at l.a.eyeworks, but it would also solidify Duralde’s dedication to eyewear design. “These were experiences that were different from my boutique eyewear upbringing, so I was really intrigued by the opportunity to really add more design and value to product that had an accessible price point, and for me this became a huge passion, because I always felt that design was sort of elitist, and that only people with money can touch design. I love that you can design to the same degree for the masses and really have all of this at your disposal and all these resources because you are doing more volume. I had seen that in the past, a lot of companies were kind of lazy and didn’t really put a lot of design in the product and just bought from China. I found that you can add this value, and nobody had been really doing it on that scale, so this was really exciting for me to participate with a company that was really committed to designing for the mass market.”

These are the reasons that led Duralde back to Kenmark in 2005 as vice president of creative development, a newly created position. He is now chief creative officer, overseeing all product design and creative for marketing. “As the creative vision of the company, I’m in charge of every detail about what our face is to the optical community and to our customers. If you followed Kenmark through the years, you see that this has been the directive to really inspire the company to have design and the language is designed as being part of the DNA of the company. Every collection we do now is designed from scratch, even the house brands.”

The Kenmark portfolio currently includes licensed brands such as Vera Wang, Zac Posen, Original Penguin, kensie, Lilly Pulitzer, Jhane Barnes, Timex, Dana Buchman, Republica and Wolverine; as well as house brands including Gallery, Comfort Flex and Destiny. These are all well-known brands but in order to preserve each identity so they don’t overlap and look the same, Duralde heads a team of designers who interact and engage directly with the brand each is responsible for. “We assign designers on the team who we know can really embrace wholeheartedly the DNA of each brand and that we know can have good relationships with those design houses. First and foremost, we select a design team member who is responsible for the design of the frames and the business that we have with those companies. Secondly, we select brands who don’t just want to license their names but are actually committed to eyewear and love eyewear, and see it as a part of their own DNA.” Because of this, Kenmark is highly selective on the brands it partners with. “We only work with brands where they have a design team or designer who actually works with us directly—that’s one of the major requirements. For example, both Vera Wang and Zac Posen work on their respective collections consistently, so on a monthly basis, we meet with their teams and work with them directly. We’re not just not buying the name to put a logo on it. Our licenses aren’t about logos and names. Our licenses are a creative relationship that we feel we want to have to create eyewear that’s better than eyewear that we can produce ourselves.” This a recurrent theme for Duralde and his team, learning from these design houses, and working and designing with them directly. “We roll up our sleeves with them side by side so that every detail, from concept and inspiration, to the beginning stages, we’ll do the image sketches from the beginning with the design house. Then we’ll go to prototyping and show them the prototypes—they’ll put them on their faces and check the sizing and all the details. And then for us, we bring the expertise of being eyeglass designers. That’s the difference—we create a product that has two design sensibilities merged into the product. We have the design and the design house’s sensibilities, and we convert that into what the optical market is looking for in terms of the trends, the sizes, the colors for the season, so this is a perfect symphony of bringing their talents and our talents together.”


As the lead designer on the Vera Wang, Zac Posen and Dana Buchman brands, Duralde also works with other design team members on sub collections for some of the other brands such as Timex. Currently the design team includes Jason Wehlage, who works on the Penguin, Jhane Barnes, Timex, Wolverine, Republica and house brands; Paulette Ettinger, responsible for Lilly Pulitizer; Amanda Lock, who works on kensie; Laura Howard, who designs the Vera Wang runway collection and assists Duralde with the Zac Posen brand; as well as two product developers, Dawn Ruiz and Shelbi Collins. While he oversees design for all brands, Duralde is adamant about letting each member of his design team take the reins on design for the respective brands they are responsible for. Rather than “approving” their designs, he believes it should be a collaborative process throughout. “At Kenmark, we take on very skilled designers so we trust that they’re going to be the right ones for the brand. So what my relationship with the designers is, I definitely can give feedback and mentoring and inspiration when they might have a struggle with color or a shape or size but overall, I really like them to be independent and really flourish and have their own personal relationship with that designer or design house, because what happens is if I get put in the mix, it kind of dilutes it, and everything starts looking the same.” Duralde schedules regular design team meetings to address issues that may come up, for example, if a designer has a struggle with pricing or with a shape and design, he steps in to provide guidance. “Truly what each designer does is present their collection complete, and then I may do some tweaking or give some input but really at this point in our relationship with all of our designers, they really have their print on the collection, and that’s what I love. And again, because I’ve been in the business for so many years, I can look at things, and I can help with eye shape or proportion or balance because we want to have an overall feel that our product is very sellable. There are things that we can add to the product as a group collaboratively to give it more features. That’s where the team gets engaged and where I get engaged, more in the last stage of refining the edit and refining the assortment.”

Kenmark’s main business lies in creating eyewear for licensed brands, but Duralde cites that his previous background in independent eyewear continues to be an influential driver for the brands he works on. “Because I have worked in both domains, from a licensed brand and independent eyewear perspective, one thing that’s interesting about what we do that’s a little different is that we have the best of both worlds; we approach the design and creation of eyewear with an independent mindset because we know we’re primarily serving the independent professional. We’ve had that training in that independent world so a lot of our approach is the same, for example with the innovation and materials, and techniques and resources that we utilize. Because of the scale that we’re on, we’re able to leverage the technology to an even greater degree because of our volume. We have the best of both worlds because we can have an independent experimental mindset but then we also have access to multiple factories, technologies and resources that can then take that pioneering sensibility and really infuse the product with a lot of innovation. So in spirit, we’re very committed to this independent mindset because of the independent customer we’re serving.” Because of this, Duralde believes Kenmark’s approach to branding and licensing is much different than many other companies. “For us, it’s more than buying a name and a lifestyle and marketing it. What we’re doing is going into those design houses and tapping into their creative spirit. For example, we feel with Zac and Vera, they’re really among the most interesting groups of thinkers in fashion, and we like taking them in and having them design with us.” And because of their deep involvement in the design process, Duralde believes the collection is truly reflective of who the designer stands for, especially when it comes to the Vera Wang brand. “Vera loves eyewear, she collects it, and you can tell this is her collection. It’s so personal to her, and that’s the beauty I wanted to impart about what we do creatively is that we really are the voice of our customer, but it’s that designer that we collaborate with who creates these collections that are so unique and special that enables our customers to offer their customers year after year, collections that are relevant and compelling.”

For Duralde, design inspiration is very simple. “I have a relationship to be aesthetic in life. I love everything that’s about thoughtful and creative design such as architecture, fine arts, modern art and automobile design. I feel design can enhance people’s experience with life. It may sound esoteric but I really do believe design brings a more civil and peaceful world because it puts people in touch with a side of them that is more collaborative and compassionate, because to relate to design and art, you have to have a different experience and different feeling. And I think everybody has access to this, and those who are pushing it in the world and making it a focus, that’s what I’m drawn to because I feel that enhances everybody’s sensibilities.”


The main influence fueling his passion for designing eyewear is the ability to frame countless faces. “In my career, I’ve been part of teams that have designed over 30 to 40 million eyeglass frames, so what I know is that I can be part of something that makes a difference in people’s lives about how they feel about themselves and how they look. And that’s what I’m about—being profoundly related to everybody who wears the frames that I’m part of the design process on. For me, it’s so enjoyable almost every day to see a frame that I’ve designed from a design house that I can see I was a part of creating.” Even something as simple as someone telling him how much they love a frame he designed because of its color or something as subtle as a tint is rewarding for Duralde. “When people notice the things you’ve done that are extra special, that feels good because I’m connected to making people feel better about themselves through design. And that’s why I don’t have this philosophy that really good taste and good design is something exclusive. That’s a driver for me, knowing that at any price point and at any level, people can have nice things. And when they have nice things, they want nice things to happen to other people in the world.” And this is how he also inspires his team of designers. “We’re always thinking about the person who’s going to be wearing our frame. And that’s why for me personally, I hand draw everything and sketch it because it’s such a poetry—no two faces are alike and not many faces are completely symmetrical—it’s understanding that there isn’t just a flat geometry when we’re making these frames.”

As much as he appreciates fine design across multiple categories, Duralde professes that his design devotion remains in eyewear. “I love eyewear and I love making frames for people; this is such an easy way for me to participate in people’s wardrobes and lives—this has been the best thing for me since I’m very passionate about eyewear. But could I design something else? Of course, like when I remodel my houses, I’m very instrumental in the design and architecture. So could I get involved in the design of other things? Yes. But do I? No. What really brought me to design is the fact that I really have an opinion about everything,” he says laughingly. “So what makes you a good designer? A good designer is someone who looks at anything in life and thinks it can be different or better, so if you have that seed inside you where you want to make things better, and you look at the world that way, that’s what informs a good designer. That’s what drives me.”

While making things better continue to be the tune he designs to, when asked if he has aspirations to create his own signature eyewear collection, Duralde’s response stays true to his design integrity. “Not really—and I’ll tell you why. Because for me, as I told you earlier, I really love the fact that I can present product to as many people as I do. And by working with a bigger company, I’m really excited about how many faces my eyewear can touch this way. And I just love that there can be millions of people wearing my frame, whereas the idea of it being more exclusive and being my own, I’m not really attached to that. And also in my career, I’ve worked so closely with major designers and figureheads in the world, I feel like I understand that it’s not about me, it’s about them, because that’s my job to help them make collections and be a conduit. So I really get a lot of satisfaction on seeing these major designers be able to express themselves in eyewear and be part of that team. So that’s where I stand on it—the fulfillment is huge knowing that I can reach such a big audience.”

Duralde humbly concludes by telling me how meaningful it is to be able to express to us his passion for what he does. “I’m so glad there are people like you who understand creative minds and who push this idea of design in the industry. I want us to all understand that we truly have the opportunity to make people a lot happier and have such a good feeling around eyewear.” Good design matters, but it extends beyond talent and creativity. While 20/20 champions the craft of eyewear, it’s the passion exhibited by these artists that are equally inspirational. Each of them design eyewear for reasons that are personal and special to them, but ultimately they all arrive at a unified goal: creating a work of art to help the individual see better, look terrific AND feel great. Every face deserves this work of art, and for Duralde, the ability to frame millions of these faces is the icing on the cake. ■
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