Photos by Marissa Roseillier Photography

By Christine Yeh

Just six years ago Nicolas Roseillier, Rem Eyewear’s creative director, was profiled in 20/20 as an Artist of the Frame; though if you ask Roseillier, that seems like a long time ago. Perhaps it’s because he has since been busy living life and raising two young boys with his wife Marissa. Or because he has been traveling the world in pursuit of design inspiration for his work, and hobnobbing with friend and fellow design collaborator John Varvatos, while rubbing elbows with rock star royalty at Varvatos-sponsored events. Most certainly, it’s because he has since taken Rem Eyewear’s creative direction to new heights. For these very reasons, 20/20 made the obvious decision to reprise Roseillier’s status as an Artist of the Frame. Well… those reasons and the fact that he and his vision for eyewear is near and dear to the heart and soul of what we do at 20/20.

Roseillier, or “Nico” as he prefers, struck up a friendship with 20/20 Editor-in-Chief James Spina in the early days of his optical career. Aside from their mutual respect and passion for eyewear, the two instantly connected on their love for music and anything rock ’n’ roll-inspired. It’s no secret 20/20 secretly aspires to be a music magazine, as evidenced by our past “Musicians in Eyewear” features and said EIC’s nonstop references to music lyrics in our style features, so it’s no surprise we have an innate inclination to be drawn to anyone who also “gets” the eyewear-music love affair. That admiration for Roseillier and his work continues to blossom as his role within Rem expands and has also seeped into the minds of all of the 20/20 edit team. Sorry guys... don’t mean to rain on your “bromance,” but the ladies of 20/20 are crashing the party. Of course, it’s more than Roseillier’s talents as an eyewear designer. In the most simple of descriptions, Roseillier is simply a likable guy. Don’t let the French accent or his effortlessly cool style fool you—he convincingly looks AND plays every part of the hip artist/designer but he’s also your everyday guy—a family man doing what he loves, with the warmest, most approachable personality.

Despite the aforementioned description of Roseillier, as we begin our phone chat, I am suddenly a little intimidated by his voice. The French accent has never thrown me off in the past but then again, I am used to communicating with him in person, usually when I see him at trade shows, or virtually via social media. For some reason over the phone, his accent sounds heavier than usual. After asking him several times to repeat certain words or phrases that were not audible to me, Roseillier good-naturedly jokes with me, “Do you need subtitles?” As we settle in to conversation, I start hearing the same Nico I know.

Born in Normandie, France, Roseillier grew up with aspirations to be an optician. With that in mind, he studied micromechanics and engineering. Sounds like a good intro into a career of optics and eyewear design, yes? Actually, not quite yet. All would be put on hold when amidst his studies, Roseillier discovered a passion for architecture, which led him to Paris, where he pursued studies in industrial design. He describes this time as the “fun years,” exploring his creative side and experimenting with design. Here he met a friend who became his business partner for a few years.

Around that time, Roseillier designed a range of lamps and light fixtures and was invited to exhibit that collection in an art gallery in the Soho district of New York City. “I met a lot of people in New York—the energy there was really amazing, and there was a different way of thinking; it was something that was really new at the time, so my friend and I started working more and more together, and we decided to create a business together.” The two partners moved to New York and launched their own design firm. Though excited to be in New York, Roseillier didn’t speak a word of English. “It was definitely a challenge—I had to learn really fast. I couldn’t even go to the deli by myself. It was tough in the beginning but it made me very humble.” With only two suitcases and an empty loft in Brooklyn, the design duo began creating architectural projects and conceptual art installations. Coincidentally, Roseillier’s partner already had established contacts in eyewear, which aided in securing design and consulting projects for eyewear clients, including Bevel Spectacles, Bada and Scojo. Roseillier became heavily involved in creating marketing and merchandising concepts for these companies, but frame design was not yet on his resume. “We were doing well but my business partner and I decided we wanted to take different paths, and I wanted to try different things as well.” Not long after, Roseillier received a phone call from Alessandro Lanaro, founder and CEO of Modo. “He asked me if I can design eyewear, and I replied ‘Sure! Of course I can!’ I had absolutely no idea how,” Roseillier laughs, admittedly. And this folks, is how an Artist of the Frame is born.

Armed with only his architecture and industrial design training, Roseillier was determined to give it a shot. “To me, it was something new, and it’s so fashion-oriented... I wear glasses myself so how complicated can it be? But then you realize it’s pretty technical; despite being a fashion accessory, it’s still a medical device.” Roseillier would go on to serve as Modo’s creative director for four years, bringing in and designing collections for high-end designer brands including Derek Lam and 3.1 Phillip Lim. “Those guys were just unbelievable—great designers but also very nice people and very approachable. When it comes to working with designers, I have learned the most exciting aspect of my job is to have that relationship with them and creating that way of designing together—it’s a real collaboration.” And it is the valuable lesson of nurturing these relationships and forging collaborations that would launch Roseillier into a new phase of his career—Rem Eyewear.

Roseillier’s first meeting with the folks at Rem happened by coincidence at a Vision Expo trade show six years ago. “There are opportunities in life that you just can’t pass up, and that’s basically what happened when I met Rem CEO Mike Hundert for the first time. We clicked right away and at the time, their designer was leaving and they were looking at changing things. That’s really one thing that Mike is always working on, that idea of being flexible and thinking outside of the box and changing things around, and creating excitement and different things we can do at Rem.” Three weeks later, Roseillier and his wife relocated to LA where Rem is based, stepping into the role of creative director.

Perhaps one of the reasons Hundert and Roseillier connected so well is because the two share the same philosophy when it comes to creating relationships. Before Roseillier’s arrival at Rem, Hundert sent him to every brand license within Rem to get acquainted with each brand. “It’s all about the relationship. If you’re not going to have a good relationship, you’re not going to have good product, and you’re certainly not going to have a good vibe with the collection or that relationship you have with the license,” explains Roseillier. “One of my first meetings before I even moved to LA was meeting with John Varvatos. We clicked right away not because of my background with eyewear, but mainly because of my background in architecture and design.” The two have since become good friends and trusted design collaborators. “When I meet with John, it’s just the two of us sitting in his office reviewing the new collections I’ve been working on and new concepts and ideas. He tells me what he likes and doesn’t like, but it’s a true collaboration because we look at it together in terms of the brand—does it make sense with the brand and with what he’s working on in his next menswear collection. And when it comes to technicality, he trusts me enough to do it; there’s a trust between him and I, without saying it—we just know what each other likes. The relationship with John is definitely one of the most special for me.” 20/20 witnessed the unique collaborative nature of their relationship firsthand when James Spina shadowed Roseillier and Varvatos during one of these meetings for a feature that ran in our March 2013 issue (“Go! Johnny Go!”).

Of course, the same approach to creating relationships also applies to Rem’s current portfolio of brand licenses including Converse, Tumi, Lucky Brand and the newest license with home furnishings and accessories designer Jonathan Adler. The first meeting with Adler was not dissimilar to that with Varvatos. “Jonathan is completely a different person than John but we clicked right away as well. It felt like we knew each other for years. He is very funny and has an amazing sense of humor.” As it turned out, when Rem pitched the idea of an eyewear collection for Adler, the Adler team had also been looking to do the same thing. The stars aligned and a new collection was born.

As creative director, Roseillier is in charge of product design for all of Rem’s brands but he currently works the most closely with Converse, John Varvatos and Jonathan Adler, serving as head designer. With the growth of Rem’s impact as a well-respected eyewear manufacturer in the industry over the last few years, he has grown his in-house design team with the intention of placing specific people responsible for design within their respective brands. However, he remains actively involved with all brand designs and approves every new style design. “I review everything and redraw whatever I need to. Now that we know what the DNA of the brands are, we know the customers, and we are always working on the trends—we have walls with trend boards. But it’s not just about the trend, it’s about who is the consumer, who is the muse, who do these people aspire to be?” This is especially vital because as well-known and popular these lifestyle brands are, each originate from radically different categories—Converse with sneakers, Jonathan Adler with home wares, Tumi with luggage and John Varvatos with menswear. Roseillier agrees that it can be challenging when it comes to the design approach for each brand. “You have some brands that talk to you better than others… the reason why I joined the company was mainly because of Varvatos and Converse. Those for me are the brands that are closest to me personally—what I wear and the style I like. It really helps when you have good direction from the license. For example, when you look at Converse, why does the consumer love and wear Converse? Specifically what do they feel like, what do they represent? We look at things like this, and we get a lot of guidance from the brand, what the colors they’re looking at next season, what patterns, etc., since Converse is really big on these. And with John, it’s a bit of a different process. We sit down and talk about photography, architecture, music, runway pieces; we go to a studio and we look at what he’s doing for shoes, for belts, etc. For Tumi, we look at materials and details, and technology especially because it’s really based on technology.” Roseillier again emphasizes the importance of relationships and communicating closely with the brand to stay in sync with what they’re working on and absorb the information projected by them. It is also important that each person on his design team is specifically suited to the brand they’re responsible for. “We select people to work on each brand for particular reasons. The person who works on Varvatos and Adler with me doing all the design and research is completely different than the other people who work on other brands. I have one person that works on Converse with me—she’s the exact demographic of the Converse customer. That’s important too—you need to create your team around what it is you’re trying to do so you’re more true to the brand.”

In addition to Rem’s licensed brands, the company recently added SPINE Optics to its portfolio, an OUR Eyewear brand it shares with two other companies. The frames in the SPINE collection utilize an exclusive patented hinge allowing the frame to comfortably hug the wearer’s head and face without falling off, requiring minimal adjustment. Roseillier led this unique global design collaboration with Canada-based Centennial Optical and Mondottica U.K. and Hong Kong. “We designed the first collection together as a group, but every part of the world has different needs, so now we’re refining the collection to those specific needs. We’re also currently designing a sunwear collection for SPINE.”

Roseillier’s design projects today all revolve around eyewear and while his designs stay true to each brand’s DNA, he often draws inspiration beyond eyewear. “I really like looking at things differently and not always being so eyewear-related. My inspiration is never looking at what other people do; it’s looking at other creative genres such as architecture and photography. We also don’t use the eyewear industry as a trend report. I feel like everyone does the same thing if we do that.” He contends that in his earlier years, he always felt like his designs were more minimalist, but today he doesn’t think he has a particular design style. “I find myself now looking at things a little bit differently than I used to. It really depends on who and what I’m designing for, but I think my background between architecture and engineering have mixed more after all these years.” He also cites function as a driving force behind his designs, likely a result of his fused training in the aforementioned skills. “If you’re going to design something, it has to have a purpose and function.” A perfect example of this is the guitar head hinge design in the John Varvatos collection. “It’s not just a logo plaque—there’s actually another piece of metal on the inside that encapsulates the whole temple, so that it functions as holding the whole thing together.” It’s certainly a genius hinge/function in 20/20’s musically-biased eyes.

Another important element that fuels his design inspiration is storytelling. “We’re mainly telling stories with every brand collection we design—that’s really what we do. They have to make sense with each other, make sense that the story goes with the brand and goes with the collection. That’s what we created in Varvatos; there are those four icons that portray the story of the brand and who the story of the consumer is and who’s the muse, and we really build up on top of that.” In addition, Roseillier ensures that everything is tailor-made for each collection. Every material, every color, every acetate is unique to each brand. “This means that we never use the same colors across different brands—the colors we use for Varvatos, we would never use for Adler. So you will never find the same exact color in each brand. It’s a very complicated procedure, but I do believe that is why we are so creative and different.” The goal here is to cater specifically to each brand and achieve an authentic feel when Rem sales reps go to their accounts and open the eyewear trays. The authenticity factor can also be attributed to Roseillier’s preference for remaining traditional when it comes to conceptualizing each style design—he and his team draw everything by hand. “When I designed for Modo, I had time to design on the computer but today I actually find that there is something different about drawing by hand—the eye shape and the curves drawn by hand with a pencil and paper give me a different sensibility that you just can’t get on the computer. That’s my personal point of view; a lot of people don’t share that but I think it makes a huge difference.”

That sensibility is also translated to the end customer when they see, touch and try on the eyewear, and it all goes back to storytelling and function. “There’s always a story that we create around the collection, and there are the technical details as well but at the end of the day, do you like it on your face? Is it comfortable? It’s that simple—ask yourself if you love it and if you think it makes you a better person or a different person, a new face or whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.” Quality also ranks high, and Roseillier and his team set strict standards for quality control. “Design is part of engineering and engineering is part of design, so they both need to be mixed together to get the most beautiful product but the most perfect product as well.”

Roseillier also believes there is more to just selling and fitting a frame so it’s important to educate eyecare professionals on frame design. In 2013, Rem sponsored a 20/20 CE course giving ECPs an inside look at the dynamics behind eyewear manufacturing and design. Roseillier and Hundert penned the course for publication and also taught four live courses at Vision Expo. The course remains one of 20/20’s most popular courses, and the live version was extremely well-received. For Roseillier, the course fulfilled something he wanted to do for many years— teaching design and sharing his knowledge. The most important aspect of the course to him was emphasizing that it is not only about the country of origin when it comes to eyewear manufacturing; the design process, the engineering process, the quality control process, etc., are all significant. He doesn’t hold back in stating that there is a common misconception in the industry that the product is high quality only if it’s made in Italy, France or Japan. “We still have that old thinking and it’s not true… I travel all around the world, and I see factories everywhere. I go to Japan for Varvatos, and I go to China for the other brands, and let me tell you, I found some factories in China that are way more superior than any other factory. It’s really amazing because it’s about that craft, about the passion. That’s one thing for me that resonates the most. If you have the passion for what you do, you only can make it right, especially when you’re in a factory and people love what they do and have the passion doing it. And I’m not talking about the huge factories like the ones some of the larger manufacturers use, I’m talking about people who still make the craft, who still make things by hand and polish, and they get pleasure from what they’re doing. And you find this all around the world, not just Japan and Italy.” Roseillier believes not only in eyewear has there been a resurgence in passion for the craft and making things by hand, but in everything from beer to old-school barber shops, to handmade knives.

In his early years at Rem, Roseillier was only involved in product, but his role has since evolved into managing all creative aspects of the company including marketing and merchandising. “It’s my job to oversee all creative elements of how the company looks on the outside in addition to the inside. Product is still my main focus, but I need to make sure that the product matches the marketing, as well as with the images, displays and POP, etc.” It all goes back to connecting the brand with a story and relating that brand experience to retailers and their customers. It’s not surprising Roseillier is very active in interacting with the industry, especially at trade shows and never hides behind the scenes. “It’s very important to be in touch with the customer, the people you’re friends with, even the competitors. If you only stay in the office to design a frame, you’re not going to design a frame for the right person. You’re not designing frames for yourself… that’s really one thing for me that’s important… it makes me happy when I design, but you’re really designing for the customer, you’re designing for the buyer, you’re designing for the consumer.”

Roseillier’s eye for design and creativity combined with his knack for fostering relationships have not only reaffirmed his Artist of the Frame status but has garnered him a newfound respect as a multitalented designer. He has rightfully earned a coveted spot alongside some of optical’s most renowned designers including Blake Kuwahara, Patty Perreira and Christian Roth. When I proclaim this to Roseillier, he candidly laughs and says, “There are a lot of people out there but I don’t think I’m there yet… Just six years ago, I thought this was a part-time job!” In line with his humble nature, I do believe he is truly humbled to hear this but it still surprises me. “I guess I’m still very modest about that, and I truly respect these designers a lot. Maybe in my head I think they have already arrived because most of them all design for their own labels.” He especially admires Blake Kuwahara’s story. “For many years, Blake designed for licenses, and then he said I’m going to do my own thing, and he did it, and it’s a beautiful product, and it’s very him. He accomplished more than just the product. That’s the beauty of it—the product represents him and not anybody else.” Somewhere down the road, he hopes to work with some of these designers and learn from them, and perhaps even design his own eyewear label. “I want to take everything that I’ve learned and experienced, all the stuff that I might not be able to do for some brands because it doesn’t fit with the brand’s DNA and be able to put this into one collection—this is what I’ve always dreamed about.”

Roseillier’s early opticianry aspirations might not have panned out, but his calling as an eyewear artisan seemed inevitable. “Since there’s no specific school for teaching eyewear design, so many of my friends and eyewear designers I know all have very different backgrounds, and everyone has a different story on how they landed in eyewear design.” In HIS storied past, the road to eyewear design was a circuitous one, and like any artist with a vision, uncharted territory remains on his horizon. He may not have “arrived” yet in his humble mind, but we argue otherwise: Nico—you are HERE. And you’re taking the eyewear world by storm.■