Steven Stockie-Daly remembers his first pair of glasses. “It’s not glamorous at all,” laments the 25-year-old Liverpudlian designer, winner of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers and the British Fashion Council Foundation Award last year. “How can I romance them in a fun way?” He turned to Dan Levy, known for his award-winning work. Shit Creekwhich he wrote, produced and starred in.
“Dan – do you know Asda?”
“Yes?” 39-year-old Levine answered deeply. Britain’s most important supermarket chain, Asda, is a long way from Levy’s native Toronto, but it’s too sunny a Canadian to dampen the mood. Stockie-Daley, for his part, did not give up. “That was my first pair of glasses – from Asda Opticians.”
“Great,” Levy nodded.
“I hate them,” Stockie-Daley replied. The first frames were “really brutal” with very 2000s wiring. “I was eight years old, and they were awful. But I think it forced me to look passionately for beauty elsewhere.
Levy sighed sympathetically. “Why does it always start with a wire frame..?”
Dan Levy wears DL Eyewear x SS Deli Charlton in umber, $200, and SS Deli Calle wool and cotton-blend twill Marlowe suit jacket, £1,300, matchesfashion.com © Joshua Tarn.
Stockie-Daly and Levy gathered in London today not for advice but for celebration. Together they’ve produced three different pairs of glasses, a collaboration between stoki-daily clothing brand SS Daly, which has been admired since its launch in 2020 for its take on English romanticism, and Levi’s deli eyewear, founded in 2013. Charlton (named after the North London squares where Stokey-Daly lives) are classic, accessible and a little eccentric – not unlike their genial creators.
Levy – an avid fashion fan, who has been spotted on the front row of Lowe’s several times – and Stockie-Daily have already sent each other messages of thanks on Instagram when a mutual friend, stylist Harry Lambert, suggested they work together. “I was getting suited up for my AW22 collection,” says Stockie-Daly, “and Harry said, ‘Can you get me some vintage glasses?’ I told him. We didn’t get anything good.” This was especially troubling for the designer, whose vision is intrinsic to glasses: “I paint every look with glass—always have.
Glasses are as much a part of the Levi’s brand as Stocky-Deli – maybe even more so. He also remembers the first pair of emotions with mixed feelings: “They were like huge, black wires… I don’t know what they were.” And for my parents to put me in and send me to school and think, ‘We’re doing the best we can for our child,’ it’s scary. He bought sunglasses and put on his own prescription glasses, and the frames became his trademark until he became famous as a host on MTV Canada.
“They grew up with humor,” he says. “In the year I feel like it was 2006 or 2007, with the size of the glasses you were wearing, it was cool – and now, looking back, I’m not clear. Shit Creek, to give some distance, chose not to use glasses. “It’s a great way to get outside myself, because I love a good heavy frame.” When DL Eyewear first started, the price point was accessible to its MTV-era fans and the frames were unisex, because I think it’s a weird way to limit the way people express themselves. Each frame has “Look With Love” written on it, and a portion of each sale goes to LISC, a charity that helps small businesses, especially those in underserved neighborhoods.
Steven Stockey-Daley wears DL Eyewear x SS Daley Cloudsley in khaki, $200. SS Daley upcycled-silk James pajama shirt, £500 © Joshua Tarn
The creation of frames was delightfully simple. For Stockie-Daley, who is slowly growing his own business, this is his first foray beyond ready-to-wear. The designer revealed the main references that have inspired his collections so far, and said, “It’s funny,” because there was a lot of eyewear in the images.
Finally, Diana, Princess of Wales, who loves unexpectedly beautiful frames, and David Hockney are the main influences in the final products – many others are hidden on the surface. “Gloria Stein, Elvis Presley and Paul Newman are always in and around my brain,” Levy said. Steinem’s peculiarity stays with him, he says, “because it’s not coercive — it’s not fake” (the activist once sent Levy a note saying, “Thank you for thinking of me”). As for Stockie-Daley, it’s all about Yves Saint Laurent: “Glasses were one of the first to make people feel sensual.
The idea is that you can buy all three frames ($200 each) and take them for a spin, or choose one that suits your personality. The square is, according to Charlton Levy, “absolutely timeless,” a “safe-and-safe frame”; Cloudsley’s proud circle “varies according to who wears it”; And “shield-like” Lonsdale brings the drama.
“What other thing in your life do you constantly wear like glasses?” Levy asks © Joshua Tarn
“I had a moment last summer when I was wearing Lonsdale at St Pancras Hotel, and I was wearing a silk flowy shirt, and I thought, ‘There it is.’ White Lotus Energy,’” says Stockie-Daley. (Today, he has classic round frames that are more compact, while Levi turns to Lonsdale to show off his finer features.) Levi is equal to what he calls “personality” frames. It depends on who’s wearing them, because that’s the wonderful thing about eyeglasses: there are people who wear incredibly dramatic frames that make them look completely ordinary, and then there are people who look completely amazing in normal frames. “
The range is used to indicate how far the eyepiece has reached. “People didn’t see glasses as accessories,” Levy said. “They saw them as practical things to look at. And over the past few years with my company, it’s been amazing to see people change their perception of what glasses can be for them. DL’s low price point allows for multiple purchases, he hopes: He likes the idea of ”collecting, changing your glasses to reflect your mood, accentuating a particular outfit.”
“The character of Julia Louis-Dreyfus is incredibly descriptive. Veep‘Glasses are like a wheelchair for the eyes,’ says Stockie-Daley. I think that’s how it is at school, especially in England. But now, “I feel like a point of separation and a mockery; It feels like part of the clothes hanger” really justifies the investment, they agree. “What other thing in your life—besides maybe a pair of shoes and some jeans—do you wear as constantly as your glasses?” Levine asks.
And yet their own level of investment seems to be different. “At this point, my collection is crazy,” Levy admits. He couldn’t give an exact figure, but said, “I recently saw myself in a custom case, and it’s a 3-foot-tall exact case, like the drawers.” “Wow,” says Stockie-Daley, who clearly can’t compete. “I think it would fit about 100 couples,” Levy continues. “I’ve been collecting for a long time, and I like to keep everything, even my old frames that I never wear again – that’s another matter entirely.”
“Does this issue come with you everywhere?” Ask the designer. No, Levi replied – he actually has another smaller portable for long trips, so he “always has options.” But Stokey-Daley is still fixated on the 3ft number.
“I’ll hook you up!” Levy said brightly. “He is a Frenchman. They do custom stuff, it’s a whole lot!” “Sounds great,” said Stockie-Daley, “I’ll do it” – apparently an unintended, indelible look at Levi’s.
DL Eyewear with SS Daley at thisisdl.com. ssdaley.com
