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Oliver Peoples Comes to Canada

Spectacular spectacles.

There are a handful of fashion items that defined the late 1980s and 90s which we would prefer to forget about: platform flip-flops, oversized shoulder pads, and glitter butterfly clips, for instance. But Oliver Peoples eyewear, launched in 1987, has the kind of staying power that moves with the tides of the trends without losing sight of that spark of cool at the core of the brand. On the big screen, Oliver Peoples rounded out some of the decade’s most memorable characters. Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden in Fight Club wore signature red-lensed OP-523s, Meg Ryan sported dreamy OP-10 shades with blue lenses in French Kiss, and optical style icon Jeff Goldblum wore a sleek pair of tortoise shell Finleys in Independence Day.

This fall, Oliver Peoples opens its first boutiques in Canada. The September 28 opening of the location at Toronto’s Yorkdale Centre will be closely followed by their West Coast outpost on Vancouver’s Alberni Street on October 19. With the recent influx of more budget-friendly glasses shops like Bailey Nelson, Warby Parker, and Ollie Quinn, Oliver Peoples stands out for its trusted quality. The brand still designs all of its products in West Hollywood and has been making acetate eyewear in Italy, since its inception.

Oliver Peoples has a penchant for creating bold glasses with a classic edge that add sophistication to more daring outfits, or a splash of audacity to everyday looks. The brand has always been inspired by a retro aesthetic, and its current collections include styles like the 60s-esque cat-eye, Zasia (which comes in that Meg Ryan blue tint) and the Victory L.A. sunglasses, from a collaboration with fashion label the Row, a square aviator that originally launched in 2001 and became somewhat of a calling card for the brand. To honour the opening of the new storefronts, Oliver Peoples is releasing two limited-edition styles inspired by the design of each boutique: tortoise acetate frames with green lenses for Toronto, and teal acetate with mirrored lenses and gold details for Vancouver.

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