Are these the best glasses of 2011? Mykita Holly and Elsa

Want specs that nod at the 1950s and 60s (which is of course v good), but don't make you look like old snaps of your grandma? Then get your peepers round Holly and Elsa from EWG favourite Mykita.

Amazingly, Mykita has been going for less than seven years' but it has already established itself as one of most innovative manufacturers - and one of the coolest designers - in the world.

Above is Holly in gold and light blue, an addition to the No.1 collection, while below is Elsa, from Mykita No. 2. If you like the look, go and find a pair and fold those hinges. For a rave on Mykita hinges looky here...

Available from any optician with taste.

Lotho Clark, Lola and Camille sunglasses

Remember Lotho? Of course you do - who could forget  Yuwano?

Here we have a modern take on a classic look, Clark, left.

Next the beautifully coloured and strikingly shaped Lola.

Finally Lotho Eyewear's Camille demonstrates, just like the last time we featured them, a true design edge...

Ørgreen and Arne Jacobsen special edition Swan chairs and frames

At last month's London Design Festival, Danish eyewear designers Ørgreen Optics joined forces with furniture specialists the Republic of Fritz Hansen to produce a series of Arne Jacobsen Swan chairs featuring the same Copenhagen skyline design as a special edition of eyewear by Ørgreen.

The chairs and eyewear collaboration, pictured here at the EDC London showroom, referred to as the Skyline Edition, marks a new addition to a series of creative projects in the Ørgreen "Playground".

Screwless, hingeless, jointless, single-piece glasses from Reykjavik Eyes

Regular readers will know I'm quite fanatical about clever technology on your face.

Essentially, the simpler a glasses frame is, the fewer parts it has, the better the material; the more likely it is to be a piece of face furniture for a long time.

So how about these frames from Reykjavik Eyes? No screws, no hinges, no joints, AND it's one piece of strong yet light material. Designed by Gunnar Gunnarson, they look great. And, weighing in at just 2.2g, a bit like a spec of volcanic ash, you'll barely know they are on your nose.

Now watch the clever film...

More Mykita Lite glasses - talking 'bout two generations

Firm followers of EWG will recall my love for Mykita. There are four big reasons why its glasses are some of the best:

1. Style - tonnes off great eyeshapes
2. Comfort - the glasses are extremely light and slight.
3. Ingenuity - their hinges technoligical masterpieces. Like an Audi car door, you can open and close them for pleasure
4. Durability - they stay looking great and fitting perfectly (I've had my Nils five years)

Mykita has also always made glasses for everyone: young or old, man, woman, daring or shy, cool or square.

Now, leaving Mykita for a moment, I came across this picture last summer but have been unable to reproduce it here, so click on that link you just went past.

I never heard back from the owner so I don't know if the woman pictured - "Lupa" - usually wears them. I think they look wonderful and demonstrate how stylish this style of metal aviator spectacle can look.

These glasses are fairly ubiquitous of course, mainly on the faces of middle-aged men.

Last year, the Mykita Lite series set a new standard of light eyewear design. The stainless steel frames have a newly enhanced screwless mini-hinge (see previous post where I raved about them last).

Now two new designs, Oda and Ulf, below, bring this aviator style to the more discerning glasses wearer, one who appreciates quality, ergonomics and fashion.

As Mykita explains, Oda and Ulf are "aimed at two target groups: the over-60s, who have always worn such frames; and wearers two generations below them who are now reinventing the similarly styled old glasses they were fascinated to discover in grandpa’s desk drawer [like Lupa perhaps?].

"The younger group are the driving force behind the renaissance of this design. The frames are striking but laid-back, akin to a slightly smaller version of a hip pair of sunglasses." 

Monoqool - Danish eyewear with helter-skelter hinges

How's that for a hinge? Monoqool are a new glasses company, combining Japanese craftsmanship and technology with Danish design. It's a pretty unusual hinge, but I like it for its simplicity.

Welcome Monoqool, I'm sure we'll be hearing more on them in future.

Top is the Belle, the Helix hinge is 1.0mm stainless steel, which joins with a 0.6mm stainless steel front. And beneath that, the Lemur, made from 0.6mm beta-titanium.