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Linda Farrow is one of those brands that perennially seems to be at the swirling apex of fashion and pop culture. Since 2003, when creative director Simon Jablon decided to relaunch the luxury sunglasses label—founded by his mother in London in 1970—the brand has been producing bold, angular sunglasses for seemingly every buzzy designer of the last two decades, from Luella Bartley and The Row, to Magda Butrym and Dries Van Noten. They are often spotted on Hadids, Jenners, and Biebers. At Cannes Film Festival this year, Halle Berry wore frames in a distinctive yellow tortoise pattern from a new Linda Farrow x Jacquemus La Croisière capsule, and Dakota Johnson chose a pair of amber-lensed aviators.
But Linda Farrow, the person—now 80—has epitomized cool long before A$AP Rocky ever rapped “I love your Linda Farrow” on 2013’s “Fashion Killa.” During the 1970s and 1980s, Farrow designed some of the first eyewear for European luxury brands. In the era before the alchemical A-lister and stylist relationship, Yoko Ono bought a pair of round, oversized Linda Farrow sunglasses from an early capsule collection to wear for her wedding to John Lennon and became a regular customer. “In fashion we’re always thinking forward, forward, forward, but it’s high time we took a moment to celebrate my mother’s legacy,” Jablon tells Vogue, as we catch up on a video call together from Farrow’s living room.
Jablon has coaxed Farrow out of retirement to launch the Iconic Collection, a series of limited edition reissues that celebrates her trailblazing career in fashion. First up is the Lila, an early 1970s, oversized rimless frame featuring colorful beveled lenses that marry sharp angles with swooping curves. Originally crafted from stainless steel, the style is now available in 22 carat gold-plated Japanese titanium with seven shade options for the lenses, including sunset gradient and aqua. She and Jablon narrowed down hundreds of archival candidates.
“We wanted to start with one that felt very unique,” says Farrow.
“—and also something that looks great on my mother as she is the model,” adds Jablon.
In the lookbook, Farrow looks inimitably chic in tailored pieces from her own closet, styled with her vintage 1970s diamond dial Audemars Piguet watch and By Alona gold jewelry. Although it was her first time stepping in front of camera for her brand, family photos show her modelling her signature oversize frames from Lake Como to Mallorca. On set, it was Farrow’s idea to style a plum, popcorn knit Dries Van Noten top with a pair of purple Lilas, and a terracotta Haider Ackermann button-up with camel Lilas. “Fashion was changing radically in the ’70s, but sunglasses still just came in black and brown tortoiseshell, and so I got the idea to offer all of these different colors,” she says. “It got to a point where people would buy many pairs just to match with their clothing.”
A desire to upend expectations through confident and forward-thinking design is why Farrow started designing eyewear in the first place. As a young London College of Fashion graduate she met her late husband Julian Jablon, who owned an eyewear company, and their relationship soon evolved to be both a personal and professional partnership. “I found that the industry was very much about functional products and there was nothing that was aimed at a young innovative female consumer so we decided to try to introduce sunglasses as a fashion accessory,” Farrow recalls.
She found a small studio space in Marylebone and took design cues for her line from both the creativity and eccentricity of Biba and the clean lines and geometric shapes of Bauhaus. “I was particularly captivated by the balance of creativity and functionality, and the idea that beauty and practicality need not be mutually exclusive,” says Farrow.
British retail stalwarts Selfridges and Harrods opened Linda Farrow concessions, and fashion houses soon took notice. In the 1970s, brand extensions were a new concept in luxury, and sunglasses became a major opportunity. “The circles were much smaller then, and so it was easier to make an impact with the right people,” says Farrow. She went on to develop sunglasses for Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Sonia Rykiel, and Emilio Pucci. “Working with those designers at the time, they were all very dedicated to their crafts and had strong visions for what they were trying to achieve.” She continued her collaborations until the late 1980s, when big licensing groups were starting to dominate the eyewear industry. She then decided to take a step back and spend more time with Jablon and her two older children.
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“It’s nice to have the family business and I’m very proud of what he’s achieved,” says Farrow of the brand’s second chapter. The Lila, which was originally known just by a style number, has been rechristened in honor of a possible future third-generation Farrow at the helm: Jablon’s five-year-old daughter.