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Handmade and designed in East London, there’s nothing not to love about independent eyewear brand Hot Futures. This game changing brand have redefined the look of luxury sunglasses, creating style-led, handcrafted, premium acetate eyewear at a killer price. Inspired by the eyewear icons of the past, Hot Futures give their designs a futuristic twist, creating items that are at once classic and contemporary. We spoke to Jake, one of Hot Futures’ co-creators, to take a look behind the lenses.  
 

Myself and my co-creator Tanya both started out as vintage fashion business owners and that’s how we met 6 years ago. As well as falling in love with each other, we both quickly learnt we shared a love for beautiful, bold eyewear inspired by iconic fashion movements from the past. Hot Futures was born as a passion project in East London on the very street we met those 6 years ago, Brick Lane.
 
After launching as a successful retail space housed in the Old Truman Brewery in spring 2017, we began to gather a dedicated following of East London fashion lovers and we opened our first permanent store in November 2017 to create a positive, inclusive and community based store as the platform for the brand.
 
A little over a year later and we have designed and developed our first premium eyewear collection to create the eyewear we always dreamed of wearing. Our eyewear is designed for people who don’t want the ordinary; it’s for people who want to wear beautifully handmade, supreme quality sunglasses at an accessible price point. As a brand, we are inspired by the people who walk into our East London store and use fashion as their platform for personal expression, so we wanted to create our eyewear at a price which allowed our customers to be playful with the shapes they wear and to incorporate new eyewear colour palettes and shapes into their everyday looks. We’re now incredibly excited to be launching our SS20 collection as Hot Futures takes the next step on what has been an exciting and fulfilling journey so far!

 

The Hot Futures aesthetic is premium, iconic and playful but always seeks to remain approachable and not take itself too seriously. As people, Tanya and I love eyewear and the way it elevates fashion looks to a new level, but we never wanted to have a brand that was inaccessible, cold or isolating to our following, so we balance a premium feel and aesthetic with one which allows for self-expression and positive energy. We have a little in-store motto of “good vibes only” and we try approach everything we do with that in the forefront of our minds.

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Similar to our first collection, the second collection builds on the same iconic yet futuristic direction of the first collection. We’ve explored new colour palettes, finishes and materials which we are super excited to showcase, and we will also be introducing some beautiful new shapes, to be unveiled for the very first time at Jacket Required. We’re early on the Hot Futures path so every collection represents an opportunity to grow and test new ideas. One significant evolution for SS20 is that all our black designs will be created from 100% eco-acetate as we continue to focus on improving the sustainability of our eyewear.

 

East London offers such a rich diversity and fusion of creativity, ideals and approaches whether that’s in relation to fashion, music or other lifestyle elements. Our roots therefore come through in our collections in the way that we put them together to express that freedom to move through realms and time; that could be giving a nod to an era, a music genre or fashion movement. It’s that sense of adventure and newness that’s rich with history but forever evolving in new directions which we love about East London and we try to incorporate this energy into the look and feel of our eyewear. On another level, our first dream was to establish roots in East London in the first place, and opening our store in Brick Lane was an incredibly proud moment for both of us, so the people who drop into our store inspire us in so many ways meaning that the eyewear we create will always owe itself to the people who beat the streets of East London on a daily basis.

 

East London is such a hotbed for change and evolution that’s inspiring to be a part of and I think that in itself is a credit to the people of East London, whether they’ve been there for many years or for a shorter time. There’s so much creative diversity here and that’s what attracted us to the area in the first place and what continues to attract people from all walks of life and all around the world to this small yet mighty spot on the map.

 

Helpfully, Jacket Required is housed in the Old Truman Brewery, the very space we first launched Hot Futures, so it felt serendipitous and circular that we would show our first collection for the first time at Jacked Required earlier this year in the place where the brand was born. Beyond the sentimental, we had an amazing experience showing at Jacket Required the first time round and made some amazing contacts, and we hope that this show will be no different.

 

We’ll be showcasing our new collection for the very first time at Jacket Required which is an exciting milestone for us, so as well as the collection we’ll be bringing an eagerness to meet new people, make connections and keep the good vibes flowing.


 
Showcase next to Hot Futures and more exciting emerging and established brands. To exhibit at Jacket Required 24th and 25th July sign up now.

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