FLATLIST is cool. Their shapes are fresh, the circle of supporters are creative, the imagery that naturally has grown around the brand doesn’t stink of hours in a daylight studio – it smells of real life living. 

Talking to the brand and taking a closer look at the provenance of this funk factor, we talk about the importance of the school of life lessons, trusting your inner feelings, and the acceptability of sunglasses indoors during lockdown. 

Tell Us How FLATLIST Came About .

The “Feeling”: Well, FLATLIST was founded way before the actual launch of any products. When we started our agency 8-years ago, we also started a global tour of socialising and networking. Working with international sales in the fashion industry, you often find yourself at trade shows, fashion shows, showrooms, launches, parties and dinners. And with 150 travel days a year in cities like Paris, Milano, London, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam you meet a lot of people that like to talk about fashion. You end up in endless of uninspired conversations and meetings. 

To avoid this, we started hosting dinners ourselves 3-4 years ago after too many nights spend on “free dinner and drinks” that didn’t give us anything beside hangovers.  We invited people we felt connected to, (that felt the same as us) and where the conversations and mutual mindset led to some unforgettable evenings, long nights and pictures. People were mentally present. Real but charming. 

It was here FLATLIST was born. We “FLATLISTED” people. It means to be yourself and feel fucking great about it. It was in this period the actual brand and products started to take form. 

We both love shades, and we both had design ideas, so the dream of running an eyewear brand was pretty mutual since day one. We didn’t have any personality or visual concept to go with it. The “Flatlisted” feeling was all we needed. We used that feeling when we started to create our brand and visual material and then we used our private collection of shades for design inspiration. Quality over quantity and eyewear designs and colour combos we thought were great and that we couldn’t find in the market at that time. No “trend analysis” but simply a look in the mirror and thumbs up to your partner when trying on our first prototype set of samples. 

The “Business Plan” :We wanted to create affordable luxury frames that we thought were excellent and that we would wear ourselves. Not trend-driven at all, but based only on personal preferences. We wanted to be the brand priced below the big fashion brands while offering a quality just as good, if not better. 

How Has It Grown Since Its Inception? 

We have had a very strict distribution strategy since day one, choosing to work only with a handful of global retailers. Not just based on their name but also if they were a good match when it came to selling our brand and products, such as Need Supply, KITH, Totokaelo, Luisa via Roma, Hybebeast, END,  Smets, LN-CC, Liberty, Matches Fashion etc.  Furthermore, our e-commerce is really starting to pick up!

How Do Your Sunglasses Differ From Others?

There are many things to be said. Whether it is our uniquely designed straight side temples for a better all-round fit and grip on the head (fits all, kinda), our carefully sourced 90’s deadstock Italian acetate or our unique colour combinations and designs. Every style and colour also has its unique style code written in gold on the outside of the left temple. Our little trademark. And maybe the fact that our collection is pretty retro-inspired. 

What Do You Think Sunglasses Impart In The Wearer? A Sense Of Mystery, Intrigue? Sexiness?

That is a very difficult question to answer – obviously some kind of Hank Moody coolness but, ultimately, we hope our eyewear makes our consumer fell exactly what he or she wants to feel. This can be a lot of things, but mainly we want them to feel themselves. 

What Changes In The Fashion Landscape Do You See Ahead?

A LOT, but it’s difficult to predict at the moment. You see quite some self-proclaimed experts trying to predict the future at the moment, but the truth is that we don’t know other than our industry needs to slow down. 

How Do You Feel FLATLIST Will Be Adapting To These Changes? 

No need to adapt as our aim has always been to make long-lasting products instead of having to reinvent ourselves on a seasonal basis. We feel that we already created styles that have the potential of becoming icons of tomorrow (Hanky, Tishkoff, Le Bucheron, Bricktop). When we think it’s needed, we add some newness here and thereby adding new acetate colours and lenses, but that’s it. 

Your Sunglasses Have A Certain Understated Grunge Elegance About Them… Would You Agree?

Yes! But also the absolute 70’s freedom of expression vibe as well as the 90’s minimalism. 

Finally, Is It Acceptable To Wear Sunglasses Inside During Lockdown?

Of course – why not? Go for our Le Bucheron style with blue lenses if you want to add some colour to the wall you’ve been staring at for the last month or try Tishkoff with yellow lenses if you’re behind on your D-vitamins.

Tags: brand, Eyewear, Fashion