Store Stories: Finlay

Fashion : News

07 October 2019

Because there’s no place quite like the Great British high street – from its niche independents, to seasonal Pop-Ups and those expansive yet elegant department stores – Because Magazine is on a mission to champion the bricks-and-mortar of London in all its glory. Each week, we’ll beeline to the rails of our favourite retailers to scope out the must-have pieces and in-store exclusives that are more than worth making an effort for. This week, we're in Notting Hill to nose around Finlay London.

Winter may be creeping up, but when has that ever stopped us rocking a fabulous pair of sunnies? We need said sunglasses for those crisp winter mornings, hangover Fridays and, of course, to block out the haters. But to be honest, we don’t even need an excuse to wear sunnies all year round – that’s why this week for our Store Stories, we visited Finlay London Sunglasses to scope out the perfect pair.

Finlay was born with a rebellious spirit when it comes to designing eyewear – creating frames that promote the individuality of all their wearers. Designed in London and crafted in Italy, each pair of sunglasses is lovingly crafted by expert craftsmen and women who adopt the long-established techniques of eyewear artisans located in the foothills of the Italian Alps.

Not only do Finlay create such masterful sunglasses, they have a customised service which allows customers to engrave names, dates, initials etc into their frames and boxes for only £20 – the final, personal touch for your new favourite pair of sunnies.

Eager to learn more about Finlay London, we visited their Notting Hill store to meet Store Manager, Emily Lloyd, and discover her favourites from the collection.

What... The Percy.

Because... "It's our bestseller, for men and women; all of our frames are unisex typically. They’ve been designed in a way that the bridges will fit the majority of noses. It's a little bit smaller, but the colour is really beautiful. I find that olive is a really nice way to do a neutral without having to do a tortoise shell... You see a lot of tortoise shell out and about but you don’t actually see a lot of this olive green. And then we of course do everything as a sunglass as well. So we’ve got the sun option which are zise lenses, they’re 100% UVB and UVA protective. The 'Percy' is for somebody who wants a classic throw on – it's a subtle piece, it’s something that people might notice the colour and compliment you on it, but it's not going to be the first attention grabbing thing that you’re going to be seeing. You can pretty much wear that with anything. It's our easiest 'to style' piece".

What... The Mathilda.

Because... "It's one of our more feminine, chunky shapes – it's what I’d dub patio sunglasses. They’re really transitional, and the tone that I’ve chosen is the butterscotch. I find it's really nice as well as neutral but with a more vintage kind of feel, with the two colours butterscotch and green. They look fantastic both as optical and sun. The Matilda is mostly for women who want to make a bigger statement, but again we have it in colours that can be a little bit bolder. For example, in navy, which looks amazing with a camel coat and pretty much any autumnal gear".

What... The Parker.

Because... "It's one of our thin metal pieces that came out this summer. It actually was an upgrade from one of our previous pieces that we did with David Gandy. And then we’ve got the parker in the charcoal gradient grey and the gold with the orange to white lenses. I find that the one with gold orange to white can be a really good accessory for this season – obviously we're seeing a lot of vintage pieces coming out and in warmer tones, so this tends to be a good addition to an outfit, whereas the charcoal to white is more slick and masculine. Everything is unisex but I find that men tend to gravitate towards that colour. I’d pair the gold Parker with a nice brown power suit, like the trousers I have on today. I think it brings an edginess to a vintage outfit but in such a nice tone. {Black Parker} If you like, a man could throw this one on with a suit, or a woman could do it with grey jeans, white tee, Chucks and a leather jacket, and it would be super slick and easy".