PC Interviews Lisa Loeb to talk Eyewear, Hello Kitty and Her New Album “No Fairy Tale”

I was in a coffee shop when I first started writing this post and Lisa Loeb’s 90s hit song, Stay came on. When I looked up, half the people around the room were bobbing their heads and a few were even mouthing the words. One of whom was a woman sitting next to me. I turned to her and asked what she liked about Lisa Loeb. “I always thought she was really clever and liked the way she described things.” My sentiments exactly — well that and I loved her style.  She made wearing glasses and not a lot of make-up cool, and had us invested in the whole geek-chic look as sexy, even before fashion magazines deemed it so.

Since the launch of her career, the Dallas native and Brown graduate (in Comparative Literature) known for signature cat-eye glasses, is still the only artist to have a number one single while not signed to a recording contract. She has a way with words and is a gifted storyteller, which she’s been able to parlay throughout her career in music, film, television, children’s book and now eyewear collection, which she launched in 2010.

Ever inspiring, I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Lisa Loeb to learn about her new eyewear line, Lisa Loeb Eyewear.

Pretty Connected (PC): How do you name your glasses and which pair are you wearing right now.

Lisa Loeb (LL): I’m wearing Cake and Pie, it’s a newer style. It’s the only pair so far that’s named after one of my albums instead of one of my songs. It’s one of my more retro pairs, and I love the little base clef that’s featured as part of the design.

PC: We’re you always into funky glasses?

LL: When I first started wearing glasses, I was always looking for unique ones, which sometimes in retrospect meant, way too trendy or way too out there. It’s the type of thing when you look back and say, I can’t believe I had wire frames with big purple on top, but at the time they we’re the coolest glasses I could find in a store where everything else looked the same.

PC: Tell me more about the collection.

LL: We incorporate some of the straightforward classics, tortoise and black plastic with colors mixed in. What we’re doing is taking shapes that combine the feminine and masculine and also the functional with the fun. We aslo started introducing metals and metal plastic combinations. They are light on your face, and I like to workout and find they don’t slip as much.

PC: Where did you used to shop for glasses when you lived in NY?

LL: For a while I went to Selima. She had great, unique glasses and is a real character. And then flea markets, but some of the older styles I’d find we’re a little too granny and I always wanted ones that we’re more masculine. I would also shop at places like Moscot, Robert Marc, Oliver Peoples, really anywhere from high-end boutiques, to small hole in the wall stores.

PC: What do you take into consideration when designing your collection?

LL:  To me glasses are like guitars – when you go into buy a guitar it obviously needs to be functional but you also want one that looks really fun. Like I love collecting Hello Kitty stuff. And one of the reason I love it, is because it takes such mundane things — I have all kinds of weird crazy Hello Kitty stuff like toasters and rice steamers, barrettes, combs and pens — and when you use it-it makes you so happy. With glasses I want to do the same thing.

PC: How does storytelling play a role in your collection?

LL: When I write songs it’s a long and sometimes collaborative process where you tell a story by creating a mood. It’s similar with glasses. When we’re making them, we’re creating a whole personality and story — this is for the conservative girl who kind of has a wild side but… or this is the sexy librarian meets the professor at Gilligan’s island. Everything has a story. You need to know when you’re designing as well as decide when you’re choosing a pair, what story you want to tell.