For lovers of vintage eyewear, small Sebastopol-based company Allyn Scura is a well-kept secret (not to mention celeb favorite) you’ll be glad to be in on.
Owners Allyn Scura and her husband Scott Iseyama operate a nomadic business, showing frames that date from the 1850′s to the 1980′s at local trade shows in the Bay Area and Southern California, as well as selling many of their 75,000 available vintage styles and original frames through their online store.
Scura entered the eyewear industry in 1988 and began her own original designs in 1993, which Iseyama co-designs with her today. It all started with a passion for eyewear.
“I would go antiquing,” Scura says, “and I found all of these old antique frames that were in beautiful condition….This is when Oliver Peoples was just hitting the scene,and these were original, the real deal, gold filled, so I thought if I get my hands on a bunch of these things, I’ve got a business.”
Nearly two decades ago, Scura came into her first lot of vintage frames, which allowed her to leave a career in commercial interior product design and launch her business.
“I don’t even remember how I found out about this optometrist in New Jersey who had a closet full of unused antique eyeglass frames still in their original boxes,” Scura says, “and he had about 5,000 pairs. So I literally begged, borrowed and took every cent I could come up with to buy these, and I was a business.”
After her first lot of 5,000 frames, she later obtained an additional 80,000 down the road, and from there, business took off. Today, high-profile celebrities including Cindy Crawford, Elton John and Courtney Cox have all worn her frames.
Scura says her latest original collections are always her favorite when released. Each original collection is vintage-inspired, including these selected favorites, the Angelo, Sergio, and James Dean inspired Legend.
The Angelo by Allyn Scura
The Legend by Allyn Scura
The Sergio by Allyn Scura
Scura’s quantity of original vintage stock, though, really sets her company apart, she says.
Among frames dating back to the 1800s, over 35 choices of designer vintage frames are also offered, including Balenciaga, Carrera, Liz Claiborne, Christian Dior, Dunhill, Givenchy, Lanvin, Emilio Pucci, Ray-Ban and Yves Saint Laurent, just to name a few. Antique, mid-century, modern, or anything in between, name your pick, this company will likely have your territory covered.
“With the vintage,” Scura says, “you’re not going to see someone walking down the street with the same pair of glasses that you’re wearing. That’s why the vintage are so cool, because you can never tire of them. There are so many. It’s like candy.”
Check out some of these frames from her vintage stock:
Photography courtesy Allyn Scura
Like what you see? Find Allyn Scura at Alameda Pointe’s monthly Flea Market or at the San Francisco Art Deco & Modernism Show in December. For her entire trade show schedule, visit Allyn Scura’s website.
