Claire Goldsmith of Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder for W11-based eyewear entrepreneur Claire Goldsmith, 31, who talks to Louise Cameron about reviving her family’s legendary business, Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses

Above: Claire Goldsmith in her All Saints Road showroom

How many sunglasses do you own? Well, if you’re anything like me, you grab your one (and only) pair as you nip out the door on a sunny morning in London. How much more complicated then life must be for Claire Goldsmith whose personal collection extends to 300 pairs. I can’t help wondering how she ever makes it out of her front door on time.

But it’s not surprising that Claire’s collection of (eye-wateringly expensive) sunglasses is enough to put most women’s in the shade. Nor that she collects aviators like some women do heels or handbags. She is, after all, the managing director of iconic eyewear brand Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses and the great granddaughter of its founder.

‘I’ve got another 1,000 or so pairs stored in my uncle’s attic,’ says Claire, shrugging her shoulders almost apologetically as she sweeps her hand around yet more stunning sunglasses, in every shape, colour and size imaginable, on display in her minimalist-chic Notting Hill-based showroom. ‘I’d have even more if my girlfriends didn’t come round all the time and borrow them,’ she teases.

Today Claire Goldsmith’s burgeoning eyewear empire may be run behind a cool grey façade in fashionable All Saints Road but inside it’s buzzing with energy. Talking to Claire it quickly becomes obvious that beneath her dark cropped hair, laidback exterior (she’s a jeans and trainers kinda gal) and irrepressible joie de vivre, lies a formidable drive – she’s nothing if not a grafter.

In 1985, after six decades of business, Claire’s fourth-generation family business (founded 1926) closed its doors during turbulent times. ‘I always knew I wanted to open it again, it was just a matter of building the skillset,’’ she says.

Since none of her siblings showed any interest it was always just a matter of time. ‘Now I just see the 20 years we were shut as a glitch.’

That she has been able to breathe life back into the brand is all thanks to her uncle, Andrew Oliver Goldsmith (slightly confusingly, he prefers to be called simply ‘Oliver Goldsmith’), now 65, who, after shutting the business down along with Claire’s father, had the foresight to perfectly preserve the family jewels (you guessed it, sunglasses) in his attic.

‘The “glasses in the attic” were part of family folklore but my uncle was the gatekeeper and he wouldn’t let anyone enter,’ recalls Claire, who finally talked her way in three years ago, after having backed up her marketing degree with six years work experience with blue-chip companies.

The Aladdin’s cave (her words) didn’t disappoint. ‘One side of the room was piled from floor to ceiling with boxes of Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses marked 1942, ’43, ’44. In total, there was one of every design ever made,’ Claire explains. ‘On the other side it was the same but the boxes contained press cuttings and memorabilia, such as our visitor’s book, signed by the likes of Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Nina Simone, Grace Kelly [all orginal clients], which now sits on our front desk.’

Claire quickly realised that, just as her uncle had assured her and she’d dared to hope, Oliver Goldsmith was a powerful brand backed up by a credible product. ‘Without a doubt that authenticity is what’s given everybody the belief that we have a right to be back and should never have gone away,’ says Claire. ‘And because everything had been so carefully kept, like a library, I was able to stitch the story back together again.’

Much to her uncle’s heartbreak Claire started carting the boxes out of his house. Her next step was to the British Library to delve into the vintage archives of Vogue. There she got ‘bubbles of excitement’ every time she found Goldsmith specs and shades adorning the faces of stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren, which was plenty and often.

‘My rule of thumb for success? To copy the family blueprint: to go back to my grandfather’s time and follow his lead,’ Claire explains. Wasting no time, she set about researching, planning, raising finances and rolling out the business. ‘It’s a bit of a cliché but I started it from my mother’s kitchen table,’ says Claire, who even pulled the original Clacton-on-Sea craftsmen out of retirement to hand-manufacture again, using vintage acetate stock, just as they had in their Sixties and Seventies heyday.

In February 2006, Claire sold her first order – 20 pairs. Five months later, after finding and setting up shop in the old artisan area of Notting Hill (the original shop was 60 Poland Street), Oliver Goldsmith was once again open for trade.

Claire always maintained that the spirit of our times was ripe for the return of high quality, bespoke, handmade sunglasses and it seems she was right. Their extensive range (costing £150– £1,500), all now hand-made in factories in England and Japan, are available in over 100 independent boutiques across 35 countries. Sales are soaring year on year, turnover has doubled from £250k to £500k last year, and much the same is predicted for 2008.

Typically, Claire’s got Oliver Goldsmith back gracing the pages and covers of Vogue worldwide. ‘But then we were the first eyewear designers ever to be featured in Vogue in the first place – in 1942,’ she says, deliberately outlining their impeccable heritage.

And not just content with that, she’s also established Oliver Goldsmith as the face furniture of the world’s rich and famous again. Yes, thanks to a bevy of A-list fans, from rock royalty to film stars – Gwyneth Paltrow to Kylie Minogue and Jude to Law to Robbie Williams (the list reads like a modern day version of that original visitor’s book) – the brand is firmly back on the fashion map.

All this despite Claire admirably refusing to ‘gift’ celebrities. ‘Uh-huh,’ she laughs. ‘I’m afraid even the stars need to walk into our shops and buy their own sunglasses.’

But, true to form, impending motherhood and a house move on the cards, is not slowing Claire down. Just to ensure that she has enough on her plate, she’s also doubling her employee base (‘Team OG’) and unveiling her first contemporary collection in October.

‘Vintage has its place but Oliver Goldsmith was always about being innovative and fashionable, not retro,’ explains Claire, who has built an impressive new stable of talent including innovative avant-garde designer Brian McGinn, Oliver Goldsmith’s creative director, who has even been known to fashion shades from ebony, Claire adds.

Despite the current tightening of consumer belts, Claire is determined to keep on driving until she’s put other eyewear designers in the shade. ‘The last thing I’d want is Oliver Goldsmith to be seen as a fad – we’re here to stay,’ says the marketing guru determinedly.

So what can we expect from contemporary Oliver Goldsmith? ‘Well, we’re constantly looking at new materials and experimental ways of colouring metals. Our new collection is going to start pushing the barriers again,’ she says. More than that she won’t reveal. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see!’ Watch this space.

www.olivergoldsmith.com