American ‘GI glasses’ were initially issued during WWII based on a model used by the British Army, a wire frame with cable temples designed to fit into a gas mask. After the war, metal was replaced with cellulose acetate in a variety of frame shapes, like the smoke grey rounded square model of the 1960s.
The 70s saw the arrival of the S9. Its distinctive silhouette is noticeably of the period. An oversize square with graphic bridge and lug details, punctuated with double dot pins. Nicknamed RPGs (regulation prescription glasses) by the soldiers who wore them, they remained in use for over three decades.
Though unpopular among the GIs assigned to wear them, RPGs found a resurgence among civilians in the 1990s alongside other military surplus garments. Today, original military issue S9 frames are a sought-after collector’s item.
Though unpopular among the GIs assigned to wear them, RPGs found a resurgence among civilians in the 1990s alongside other military surplus garments. Today, original military issue S9 frames are a sought-after collector’s item.
The Cubitts Workshop set to work recreating a pair of sunglasses from the Oliver Spencer archive, itself modelled on the S9.
A refined version of the square silhouette with a sculptural hand-chamfered browline, formed, grooved, and polished in Black, Embers, and Rust acetates. Paddle temples are engraved with the coordinates to Oliver Spencer HQ, and the frames finished in the Lab with ZEISS ClearView sun lenses.
Conduit, named after Lamb’s Conduit Street, is available in a limited run exclusively from Oliver Spencer .
A refined version of the square silhouette with a sculptural hand-chamfered browline, formed, grooved, and polished in Black, Embers, and Rust acetates. Paddle temples are engraved with the coordinates to Oliver Spencer HQ, and the frames finished in the Lab with ZEISS ClearView sun lenses.
Conduit, named after Lamb’s Conduit Street, is available in a limited run exclusively from Oliver Spencer .
