It all started with a friendly meeting in Berlin. The fashion photographer and Creative Director originally from Spain and based in London Eva Losada, better known as Eva Al Desnudo in the art scene, and Andrea Pisano, co-founder of AF Reflect Eyewear, talked about creativity and shared their visions of the world until, unintentionally, they ended up defining a collaboration. An alliance in which design, craftsmanship and rebellion meet, in an impressive piece that comes in two different versions and colours, which now sees the light of day with the name of EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear. Coming soon at Machine-A and other selected stores. Stay tuned!
There are meetings that are destined to take place, in which the universe helps with its energy by bringing people closer somehow. The meeting between Eva Losada and Pisano was destined to happen, and it did happen. Losada already had in mind at that time to embark on one of her great childhood goals, design. “I wanted to study fashion and still have a notebook with the drawings I used to do as a teen somewhere at my mom's house,” she says in the conversation we have which you can read below. And now she is one step closer to achieving her dream thanks to the support of AF Reflect Eyewear. The brand whose sunglasses are designed in Berlin and handcrafted in Italy merging bold silhouettes with incredible craftsmanship has provided the technique quality and know-how to turn Eva's creative vision into sunglasses for people who don't stay inside the box.
“I got very clear from the beginning that the colours would be black and red since they are the colours that define me better,” adds Eva about today's launch, EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear. A new project that allows the brand to continue expanding its horizons while exploring new formulas accompanied by well-known artists, surprising the public once again. As we anticipated at the beginning, the collaboration will be out soon at Machine-A and other selected stores. Follow Eva Al Desnudo and AF Reflect Eyewear on their social media to not miss anything!
“I got very clear from the beginning that the colours would be black and red since they are the colours that define me better,” adds Eva about today's launch, EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear. A new project that allows the brand to continue expanding its horizons while exploring new formulas accompanied by well-known artists, surprising the public once again. As we anticipated at the beginning, the collaboration will be out soon at Machine-A and other selected stores. Follow Eva Al Desnudo and AF Reflect Eyewear on their social media to not miss anything!
Before we dive into your new collaboration, could you please introduce yourselves? Where do you answer us from?
Eva: I am Eva Losada aka Eva Al Desnudo, I am a fashion photographer and Creative Director originally from Spain and based between Paris and London. I have been twice awarded to the British Fashion Awards to the New Wave Creatives and my clients include brands like Nike, Loewe, Dior, Adidas Y3, Dries Van Noten, Apple… and magazines like Vogue International, i-D, Love, Highsnobiety, Dazed, Sleek or Schön. I have been told my work is immersive and forceful pushing aesthetic boundaries and having cinema as a strong influence. I am currently answering from Paris.
Andrea: Hi, thanks for having us. My name is Andrea Pisano. I’m the founder and Creative Director of AF Reflect Eyewear and I'm writing to you from Berlin where I'm currently based.
Andrea: Hi, thanks for having us. My name is Andrea Pisano. I’m the founder and Creative Director of AF Reflect Eyewear and I'm writing to you from Berlin where I'm currently based.
Eva, the last time we spoke was in 2017. At that time, you told us that you were involved in editorial projects with stores in different countries, in addition to continuing to travel the world attending countless fashion weeks. How are you and what has changed in the last five years?
Eva: 5 years already! Time flies... I stopped doing street style (how I started in photography) around 4 years ago to be more focused on backstage and campaign and editorial. Although I was doing commercials and editorials they were mostly in streetwear and more sports brands like Nike or Adidas Y3 and the last couple of years, coinciding also with the lockdown and having time to reflect and think about where I want my career to go, I started creating more powerful high fashion editorials, upgraded my post-production skills and started being involved in the whole creative process as creative director. I am currently reinforcing the team around me and starting a new chapter in Paris where I am in the process of continuing what I have started and being focused on bigger campaigns and editorials closer to what is my true vision of fashion. Now is also the moment of achieving one of my childhood dreams which is design. I wanted to study fashion and still have a notebook with the drawings I used to do as a teen somewhere at my mom’s house. So, I am very excited about this first collaboration and have in mind others I would like to do maybe a capsule with a brand.
Your name has not stopped ringing on the international fashion and photography scene. Would you say that you are in the best moment of your professional career?
Thank you! I think the best moment in my career is still to come but I feel is coming soon. I have recently been an option for some very big projects so now that I am also in the right place I feel is coming soon. I am very curious and always like to become better in every part of my life, and I believe I have not reached yet my full creative expression. The digital age is challenging due to the fast environment and the need to continuously release new work, so there is not much time to stop and create in silence off the rails without feeling you are missing out, but I think is very important to reflect and analyse to become better. But currently putting everything I need together for the next step, stay tuned!
Andrea, you are the founder of AF Reflect Eyewear, an eyewear brand that merges bold silhouettes with incredible craftsmanship. When and why did you decide to start your own project?
Andrea: I was born and raised in Italy, in a location which is very strategic for eyewear manufacturing. My dad always worked in the industry and runs his own laboratory of handmade glasses where I organically came into contact with the world of fine craftsmanship at a very young age. This created a genuine curiosity in me that developed into a passion for fashion and design so, when I had the opportunity, I decided to move to the most advanced city in the world for both fields, London. It is there where, inspired by the city's huge multicultural artistic value I decided with my friend Francesco to create AF Reflect Eyewear, a brand that creates a fusion between the legacy of my father and our passion and ideas, aimed to give life to unique and timeless pieces.
What did you do before launching your own brand? Did you dedicate yourself professionally to the world of fashion?
While in London I've mostly worked in the commercial field but I’ve always loved the creativity in fashion. So after a long time spent surrounded by like-minded people, I decided to take that direction and immediately started to work on my own project.
AF Reflect Eyewear sunglasses are designed in Berlin and handcrafted in Italy. A clear sign that craftsmanship occupies a prominent place in the brand's philosophy. What other values are essential in your personal vision of fashion?
Quality is certainly one of our biggest focuses. We research and use only materials of the highest manufacturing quality and make sure that their properties are respected and enhanced in every step of production. Diversity is another very important value, something that has been always very crucial for me and that resonates with us and the newer generations alike. Also, loyalty, I believe is very important for a brand and it's very valued by customers worldwide.
Now you are collaborating on a new release, EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear. How and when did this alliance come about and what has it meant for both of you?
Eva: Everything started when I was still in Berlin, through a friend in common that said the classic: “you two should meet”. Andrea gifted me a couple of frames since my personal style was in line with the brand style values. It was when we met that I mentioned I wanted to do a collab, never thinking this would happen. Andrea immediately was up for it so we started working on it. For me is definitely exciting and full of joy moment, it is a bit like playing for me since I do not have the responsibility that I have with my photography being my main job. It is always great to explore other creative areas in your life as this opens new connections in your brain and reinforces the full creative process.
Andrea: This collaboration was born in Berlin during a friendly meeting between me and Eva. We were talking about creativity and we found great interest in making something together. For me, Eva x AF Reflect Eyewear meant collaborating with a person of great artistic talent, with which we were able to showcase with our sunglasses, a piece of art that will remain unique.
Andrea: This collaboration was born in Berlin during a friendly meeting between me and Eva. We were talking about creativity and we found great interest in making something together. For me, Eva x AF Reflect Eyewear meant collaborating with a person of great artistic talent, with which we were able to showcase with our sunglasses, a piece of art that will remain unique.
Designed as a modern interpretation of a timeless bat frame with an oversize acetate shape, EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear comes in 2 different versions and colours. How has the process of developing these pieces been? What roles has each of you taken?
Eva: Working with Andrea has been very easy from the beginning. We started the conversation around December last year if I am not wrong, so it has been months of work. I got very clear from the beginning that the colours would be black and red since they are the colours that define me better. I am fascinated by circles of birth/death and rebirth or creation/destruction in nature and this was a theme from the beginning. I love how Andrea and his team managed to manually “destruct” the lower part of the glasses revealing the roughness of the nacked raw material in the black ones and the red tones in the red ones. Being the first approach to design I have seen the limitations this can have. My first drawings are far from the final product due to the limitations in production or materials, but this makes it also fun, making the brain work around it. I love the final result, love the thickness of the frames and the craftmanship in the details at the same time being very wearable. About the roles, I was the creative mind and Andrea was directing the designs into a product able to be produced taking into account the production process, the materials and durability.
Andrea: We started discussing this project towards the end of last year, I was very curious about what Eva's creative idea would be. The bat frame was a design I had created around that time, a design which Eva liked at first sight. Then she enriched it with her own artistic touch. That was to add some important milling to the underside of the frame, using depth to create some outstanding details and different textures along the shape. Then after some extensive R&D on materials, we came up with the prototype. After that, my role has been to outline and implement all the production steps since the design has some very artisanal new processes involved in the manufacturing, while Eva focused on the creative side. It was a winning combination!
Andrea: We started discussing this project towards the end of last year, I was very curious about what Eva's creative idea would be. The bat frame was a design I had created around that time, a design which Eva liked at first sight. Then she enriched it with her own artistic touch. That was to add some important milling to the underside of the frame, using depth to create some outstanding details and different textures along the shape. Then after some extensive R&D on materials, we came up with the prototype. After that, my role has been to outline and implement all the production steps since the design has some very artisanal new processes involved in the manufacturing, while Eva focused on the creative side. It was a winning combination!
Who are these new sunglasses designed for?
Eva: They are designed for rebels, for people that don’t stay inside the box. People that question, people that enjoy and play with their aesthetic and own persona.
Andrea: It is a very exclusive design and will certainly be worn by those who share the same vision as ours, but should also be seen as an invitation because anyone can be part of that vision.
Andrea: It is a very exclusive design and will certainly be worn by those who share the same vision as ours, but should also be seen as an invitation because anyone can be part of that vision.
If you had to define this new release in just one sentence, what would it be?
Eva: “A new exciting playground is open” for the design part and “bold silhouette unveiling rough craftsmanship” for the glasses.
Andrea: Transmitting emotions through the shapes' uniqueness.
Andrea: Transmitting emotions through the shapes' uniqueness.
Andrea, what do collaborations with creatives bring you? Is it a way to get unique formulas that let you get the attention of end customers?
I consider the production of artisanal sunglasses as an art form and it's great to be able to share this passion and create some of them with people whose work I do like and admire. I really love collaborating with other creatives, for me it's a way to get to work on the most challenging and unusual ideas, which are the ones I prefer and enjoy the most. I believe that engaging in a creative process with other artists is one of the maximum expressions of creativity, allowing one to expand the artistic perspective of both and produce amazing and unexpected results. The uniqueness of the final result is also definitely a medium to attract the attention of the end customer.
And what can you tell us about the campaign images that we are now unveiling? Where were they shot?
Eva: The campaign was shot by me in Berlin. I wanted to create an unconventional eyewear campaign. Wanted to go away from bright classic portraits. I wanted to take away the attention from the glasses while making them the most important item at the same time. There are a lot of full looks but with the light and styling, we managed to keep the attention softly on the glasses. I wanted to play a lot with shadows and silhouettes. I did the styling myself using pieces from UY Studio who I have to thank for letting us dig into their archive. We used minimal garments that were strongly structured.
Andrea: There you can admire the full extent of Eva’s contribution to the project, for me supporting and working alongside her during this process was an amazing and revealing experience. What we created was best expressed through her efforts, no one could have done it better than her. The campaign was shot in Berlin, a city that is to both very dear.
Andrea: There you can admire the full extent of Eva’s contribution to the project, for me supporting and working alongside her during this process was an amazing and revealing experience. What we created was best expressed through her efforts, no one could have done it better than her. The campaign was shot in Berlin, a city that is to both very dear.
What can you tell us about your next projects?
Eva: I am now recovering international clients first time after Covid and will be soon travelling to Lagos and Dubai, as well as working on a couple of projects here in Paris, in line with this evolving new chapter in my career.
Andrea: We have a lot going on at the moment, we constantly work on bringing you the best experience and we are always open to working with amazing creatives and new talents. Stay tuned for more!
Andrea: We have a lot going on at the moment, we constantly work on bringing you the best experience and we are always open to working with amazing creatives and new talents. Stay tuned for more!
Will we see the second part of EVA x AF Reflect Eyewear soon?
Eva: Perhaps! Stay tuned!
Andrea: I find what is happening extremely exciting and it's great to make people aware of this collaboration and its future potential. Eva x AF Reflect Eyewear is out now!
Andrea: I find what is happening extremely exciting and it's great to make people aware of this collaboration and its future potential. Eva x AF Reflect Eyewear is out now!
