The Insider: Sheila Vance from Sama Eyewear

Six new sunglass models from the Beverly Hills-based company are tagged with names such as #NoH8, #NoWar, #NoLimitation and #NoBullying, reiterating Vance's desire to be a force for positive social change.

Sama Eyewear donates a part of its proceeds to the Sam Vance Foundation. Courtesy: Sama Eyewear

There’s a shot in the film Focus where Will Smith pulls up in a red Peugeot RCZ, looking pretty much like the coolest man alive. The overall effect is significantly enhanced by the sunglasses he is sporting – a pair of Hunters from the Loree Rodkin collection by Sama Eyewear.

Sama specs are something of a Hollywood staple, having starred in such blockbusters as Iron Man 2, Miami Vice, Mission: Impossible II and Terminator 3. In fact, think of any major celebrity – from Bill Gates to Brad Pitt, Jay Z to John Legend and Rihanna to Robert Downey Jr – and, chances are, they have been snapped wearing eyewear by this Beverly Hills-based brand. It has also designed custom-made collections for Stevie Wonder, and has been involved in high-profile collaborations with Loree Rodkin, Badgley Mischka and L'Agence. But when I meet Sheila Vance, the founder of Sama Eyewear, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jumeirah, she is distinctly un-Hollywood. The very antithesis, in fact.

Born in Iran to a French father and Iranian mother, Vance left the country at the age of 6 and spent most of her life in the United States, but has retained a gently lilting Iranian accent. Engaging and unaffected, this businesswoman/philanthropist extraordinaire feels like the kind of woman who, should you ever find yourself in her home, would insist that you stay for dinner.

Vance’s warmth is all the more poignant given her backstory. In the 1990s, her only son, Sam, died of a heroin overdose at 19. In response, Vance founded the Sam Vance Foundation, to help youngsters battling drug abuse. In 1998, she launched Sama Eyewear as a way of generating funds for the foundation, and today, the company donates 100 per cent of the profits from select styles and collections, and a portion of its annual profits, to the foundation.

Vance has been an outspoken critic of the fashion industry’s glamorisation of drugs, particularly of the “heroin chic” aesthetic prevalent in the 1990s. “There is nothing chic about somebody on drugs; nothing elegant about what is essentially a lost soul. And when I came to do the Sama collection, my intention was to go back and correct that message. The bottom line is that fashion is a language of communication.

“But the same way that we have a responsibility, so do the consumers. They have to know when they go to a store and write a cheque or use their credit card, who are they supporting and why.”

At its heart, the brand’s latest collection, deCode: LA is a tribute to Los Angeles, but not the version that we are used to. It goes beyond the glittering facade of Hollywood to celebrate a city of progressive thinkers – a city at the forefront of everything from anti-smoking, anti-pollution and anti-bullying movements to veganism, fitness fads and juicing.

The six new sunglass models are constructed from a base of pure titanium, come in both a matte and shiny finish, and are tagged with names such as #NoH8, #NoWar, #NoLimitation and #NoBullying, reiterating Sama’s desire to be a force for positive social change.

This is an extension of what Vance refers to as “the humanity part” of the company. “We are joining forces with a charity dedicated to each of the highlighted causes.” But Sama Eyewear, which is stocked in Magrabi Opticals and Eye Boutique in the UAE, is more than a socially responsible endeavour – it is a reminder that exemplary style can coexist with an ethical approach. Sama, which makes all its creations in Japan, was one of the first eyewear companies to introduce a matte finish, to use 100 per cent titanium, and to work with only the finest materials, such as Japanese zyl acetate, precious and semi-precious gems, Swarovski crystals and nickel-free plating, not to mention lens technologies such as optical glass and CR-39 plastic.

In terms of future trends, Vance is anticipating a move away from the colour blocking of recent times to thinner acetates, more dramatic lens shapes, new materials and more metal frames.

She has worked in luxury eyewear since 1986, at a time when there were only a handful of companies in the industry. A decade later and every fashion brand worth its salt would be slapping its logo onto the side of a pair of frames.

But the appetite for overt branding is on the wane again, Vance maintains. “The difference is that we consider ourselves to be optical professionals, rather than just putting a logo on a frame. Luxury is rooted in how you feel about a product; it’s no longer about what’s written on it and who endorses it.”