Tanaka Eyewear
Spectacle making
Contact
E3 2TB
About
I make spectacles in London, working alone from my atelier in east London.
Frames are cut and finished from compressed paper composite, a dense layered material that cannot be heat-formed. That changes the whole method. Hinges cannot be heat-inserted, so slots, offsets and recesses are machined before assembly and must be correct first time. Fit is resolved by measurement before cutting, because a finished frame cannot be adjusted with heat at handover. I work with powered and hand tools.
The judgement is in the eye and the hand.
I came to the craft through thirty years working with faces as session hairstylist, and ten years with the material. A frame is drawn as a line placed on the face before it is drawn as an object.
Each frame is numbered and signed. Repair follows kintsugi logic, recording the object's use rather than resetting it.
Patina as Performance won the Heritage and Craft category at the Surface Design Awards 2026.
Mini craft gallery
Setting the temple angle. Fit comes from the angle and the shape of the temple together, and neither can be adjusted with heat afterwards.
MADE BY TANAKA EYEWEAR
Shaping the front by hand file. Compressed paper composite, before finishing.
MADE BY TANAKA EYEWEAR
