Who Was Altina Schinasi, The Woman Behind The Iconic Cat-Eye Frames
Google Doodle celebrates the 116th birthday of Altina 'Tina' Schinasi, the 'cat-eye' eyeglass frames designer.
https://www.google.com/doodles/altina-schinasis-116th-birthday
On August, Google Doodle celebrates the 116th birthday of the iconic American designer, Altina 'Tina' Schinasi acknowledged for designing the trendy 'cat-eye' eyeglass frames.
Altina Schinasi
This sculpted artist was born on August 4, 1907, to immigrant parents in Manhattan, New York. After graduating high school, Altina moved to Paris to study painting which ignited her interest in the field of arts.
Later, she moved back to the States and art at The Art Students League in New York. She began her career as a window dresser for multiple stores on Fifth Avenue.
This provided her the opportunity to learn from renowned artists such as Salvador Dalí and George Grosz whom she admired.
"At the window display of a nearby optician's office, she noticed that the only option for women’s glasses tended to be round frames with mundane designs, " said Google.
This observation motivated Schinasi to craft a unique design for women, mimicking the shape of the Harlequin masks she observed people wearing in Venice, Italy during the Carnevale festival.
She believed that the pointed edges are flattering to the face and started cutting paper demos of her innovative frame design.
Moving ahead towards execution, all major manufacturers rejected her creation claiming it to be edgy. She was adamant and approached a local shop owner.
The owner trusted her craft and the Harlequin glasses quickly became a success, earning Schansi much publicity.
By the late 1930s and through the 1940s, Harlequin glasses became an overwhelming fashion accessory among women in the US.
Altina was bestowed with the Lord & Taylor American Design Award in 1939 for her invention, and popular magazines like Life and Vogue appreciated her creation.
Schinasi's Varied Artistic Achievements
Apart from the cat-eye eyeglass, she ventured into the world of films. In 1960, she produced a documentary by her former teacher George Grosz titled George Grosz's Interregnum. This documentary was nominated for Academy Award and won the first place at the Venice Film Festival.
She published her memoir The Road I Have Traveled (1995). She even volunteered as an art therapist. And also invented unusual portrait benches and chairs, popularly named Chairacters.
Today, almost a century after its inception, Altina’s cat-eye design thrives in fashion accessory trends worldwide.
