LES ROUSSES, France--Link Eyewear, also known as LunettesLink, the eyewear design duo of Yann Lacroix and Ricardo Navarro based here, offers the 2007 Red Dot Award-winning LinkSkin eyewear collection constructed from recycled materials.

A frame from the award-winning LinkSkin eyewear collection.

The concept behind the collection is the reuse of plastics which undergo minimal re-processing or alteration. Reusing the plastic reduces consumption of energy and emissions of harmful chemicals such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. According to the company, the process is environmentally friendly due to a reduction in the amounts of plastic waste requiring disposal. As an added bonus the use of recycled plastic has resulted in the development an extremely thin plastic frame befitting the name LinkSkin.

The LinkSkin frame fronts reuse common plastic sheets from old and discarded plastic files and boxes made of .5mm to .6mm thick translucent polypropylene, a recycled thermoplastic polymer, noted for its lightness, durability and resistance to chemicals, water and impact, which is then molded and colored. A separate metal bar of stainless steel or beta titanium is used to form the supporting structure of the frame front. Hooks and clips lock and secure the plastic shape with extensions at the center of the bar to create a base for the silicon nose pads.

Rimlon cut lenses are then fit onto the plastic rim. The temples, made of injection molded recycled material, are attached to the metal bar with the company’s patented buckle joint locking system where the “fork” shaped tip of the bar is secured to the temple by sliding it through the groove of the buckle to firmly secure the frame front to the temple. No soldering, screws or tools are needed for disassembly and whole frame weighs less than 10 grams.

The LinkSkin collection from Link Eyewear is priced to the dispenser at €95, or approximately $140. ■