The brand’s origins are strongly connected to Africa. How did you keep this original spirit, and how is it evolving?
It requires a skillful balance to maintain your DNA based on a heritage which comes from the thirties, forties and fifties. It is essential to stick to those bases because they are the foundation of the brand. Every development and every innovation starts from there. L.G.R is classic but never boring. Being able to boast a real history is our advantage, so we hold on to it, despite always looking forward. Trends and fashions come and go, but substance, concreteness and assuredness make the difference. Simply waving the flag of the latest trend is not worth the time because these are cyclical phenomena. Tortoiseshell frames and green lenses will always continue to come back in fashion, but a strong identity does not need to focus everything on these waves.

L.G.R eyewear has always been entirely made in Italy by small artisan workshops. Today, is it still the same as the origins or have you implemented the production network?
At first, I started working with small manufacturers because I needed to find someone to produce my glasses. I came to them after a lot of searching and this solution was L.G.R real advantage. I keep on working with two of these artisan workshops even today, although in the meantime I have implemented the production with larger companies. as the current numbers allow me to have a different contractual power compared to the origins, I am entitled to ask the big companies to make glasses the way I want. For example, my frames are characterized by four-phase polishing, made with four different pastes, which results in a particular finish that definitely adds a plus to the glasses. you can even feel the difference by touch. However, the old craftsmen continue to develop prototypes and production.

L.G.R's careful choice of materials is another main feature of the brand, isn’t it?
Sure, our main materials are steel and celluloid acetate. The latter choice is also linked to polishing, which gives the best results in the tortoiseshell models. As for the lenses, I prefer Barberini’s natural glass.

Reunion is one of L.G.R's bestsellers, subsequently declined into Reunion Explorer, Reunion Flap, Reunion Metal and Reunion Bold. What does this model mean for the brand?
It all comes from an old photo depicting my paternal grandfather, an officer, leaving for the Second World War. he wore a pair of round glasses with lenses that seemed almost mirrored, even though those lenses did not exist at the time. After finding a similar model, a guy who worked in my warehouse tried to reproduce them. However, the enigma of the lenses remained. I then turned to Barberini’s where they explained that the lenses were flat ones. Although they had these lenses available, they did not want to use them, so I had to insist and the Reunion became reality, with this original element too.