If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.
Spike Lee, LeBron James and Mick Jagger have all been spotted in Morgenthal Frederics eyewear, helping make the century-old New York label a favorite among celebrities. Now, the luxury eyewear house is getting a refresh courtesy of John Juniper and Jeff Solorio, the design duo who founded DITA and helped turn high-end spectacles into a fashion category of their own.
Their debut Fall/Winter 2026 collectionlaunching Oct. 15, brings a new design direction to a brand best known for its handcrafted buffalo horn frames. The lineup expands on Morgenthal Frederics’ Japanese acetate and titanium offerings, with sculptural silhouettes, intricate metalwork and subtle new signatures, including purple temple tips.
The appointment brings two familiar names in luxury eyewear to one of the category’s oldest players. Childhood friends who founded DITA in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, Juniper and Solorio built the label around Japanese craftsmanship and vintage-inspired silhouettes. Their influence eventually extended into the designer eyewear business, most notably through DITA’s collaboration with Thom Browne, which launched in 2011.
Morgenthal’s history, meanwhile, dates back to 1913, when it began as Frederics Opticians in Manhattan, before adopting its current name under optician Richard Morgenthal in 1986. Its natural buffalo horn eyewear, introduced in 2006, helped distinguish it from competitors. But the brand’s celebrity following is what really helped sustain its reputation. Lee, whose oversized, brightly colored glasses have become nearly as recognizable as his Knicks fandom, has commissioned custom orange frames from Morgenthal Frederics. Norman Reedus has also previously appeared in a campaign for the label.
Juniper and Solorio aren’t abandoning the buffalo horn designs that made Morgenthal Frederics distinctive. Instead, they’re bringing a similar attention to materials and construction to acetate and titanium, with Japanese artisans producing frames featuring hand-etched surfaces, custom metal accents and detailing on the lenses and nose pads.
“What draws us to Morgenthal Frederics is that it has nearly a hundred years of history, yet creatively it still feels like a clean slate,” the designers said in a joint statement. “There’s a great team around the brand, a lot of support, and no unnecessary guardrails. That gives us the freedom to build something beautiful at the highest level—and that’s what excites us.”
The collection is accompanied by a campaign titled “Heritage in Motion,” photographed by London-based photographer Darren Gwynn.
The Fall/Winter 2026 collection will be available beginning Oct. 15 at Morgenthal Frederics boutiques and onlinewith prices ranging from $795 to $2,995.
Source: variety.com
