Known for its light, rimless frames for adults and its innovative, hingeless, nearly unbreakable brightly coloured young children’s frames, French eyewear company Minima celebrated 30 years in the business at Silmo 2024.
The company story is captured in an elegant book produced for its landmark anniversary which outlines why Maurice Timon founded the company in 1994. “I was an eyewear distributor in an optical market where there was no shortage of competition. I was looking for niche products that could stand out… (and) I was obsessed with one idea: the aesthetics of lightness.”
Minima glasses must be lightweight, flexible and strong, said Timon, but also affordable, especially when it comes to kids’ frames, as they are still growing. Key to Minima’s innovative junior ranges is their hingeless technology, using a Lego-like system to attach the flexible rubber temples to the frame fronts allowing them to bend by more than 90⁰ without breaking. The ranges can also be produced in small quantities as everything is made in Minima’s factory in France, said Minima’s Asia-Pacific sales manager Sophie Pottecher, adding the brightly coloured, interchangeable temples come in two lengths to ensure a good fit. However, children’s frames are very technical, Timon said, so it’s important for optometrists and dispensing opticians to be trained to measure children’s faces and fit them correctly.
