What sets a pop star apart from an icon is the attention to detail: pop stars are a wild brash splash of names, names, names, while the icon will deliberate over how they look, focussing on the details to accentuate.
You could argue that someone like Rihanna is clearly a pop star while her contemporary, Beyonce, supersedes her with a look that transcends style, trend and fashion.
So if you wanted to shop like an icon, where the hell would you do that in dear old dusty little Perth? Blink 138 Opticians, naturally.
‘This is all purely my own taste in things. No labels. It’s all my own personal stamp and my son’s own personal stamp on what we think people should be wearing,’ said owner Patrick Quinn of his decision to make Blink 138 Perth’s most boutique optometrist and shopping stop for Beyonce.
Unlike its commercial counterparts, Blink 138 is devoid of cabinets packed with designer brands pushing the bread and butter accessories that fund their empires.
Instead, there is an ease to Blink 138. You can browse without being bombarded.
‘Rather than having 100 brands I really only have five or six,’ Quinn explained. ‘No one brand is competing for space in the shop. I just concentrate on my movers.’
And move they do: handcrafted frames nestle themselves alongside vintage sunglasses, the entire shop a cornucopia of contemporary eyewear with something for everyone, literally.
The key to Blink 138 is to take your time and empty your mind. Don’t over think the experience or go in knowing what you’d like to buy. Instead, open yourself up to discovering something new.
‘We do get people coming in who want to wear something new and different and they start off a little timid and unsure.
‘It’s up to my son and I then to give them the confidence that it’s entirely possible to wear these things.
‘Not everybody is really gregarious and outgoing, but we have noticed that it can take a really good pair of glasses to bring a person out of their shell. We’ve noticed that on many occasions.
‘A good pair of glasses: I’ve seen them make people stand up taller, straighter and with much more confidence. It’s amazing. But it’s all about their choice. I never push any final sale – it’s up to the buyer to make the right choice.’
Take for example Beyonce. When she stopped by to say hi during her national tour in September 2009, she spent an hour indulging her love of fashion before walking out in a one off pair of Less Than Human sunglasses.
A week later she was snapped by the paps at the Singaporean Grand Prix, her Blink 138 purchase setting off her short leather racing ensemble with the right amount of attitude. Put simply, the girl looked fierce.
‘Sunglasses are particularly commercial,’ Quinn said of the current market. ‘We choose to avoid that if we can.
‘I do vintage, and our range that we have here in the store is the epitome of 1970’s style in sunglasses. Still very very underground, even more so now, but the people who know the brands absolutely love it.’
Quinn was quick to note though how sunglasses tend to set the trend for the optical frames.
‘That 1970’s frame has been really popular in sunglasses for a few years, and now it’s starting to come through (into the optical ranges).
‘At the moment, for optical glasses, the big 1950’s vintage style is still very good, but our new stock has a much more open style: thinner, finer, bigger and more 1970’s.’
Of course, nothing compares to Quinn’s current statement piece: the Yuri perforated face visors by Mykita and Romain Kremer. In red or black. You know the ones… Lady Gaga was snapped in them while at London Fashion Week earlier this year.
It is alleged that only 30 pairs of these glasses were made worldwide. Their distinct 1960’s futurama feel comes from the fact that they were inspired by the 1962 milestone of the Earth’s first human in outer space, Soviet born cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
An appropriate inspiration for a signature Gaga creation.
‘I don’t have an opinion on pop stars in general,’ Quinn confessed, ‘but I must admit, they have been good for my business.’
Blink 138 is located at 138 Oxford Street in Leederville. www.blink138.com.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
