Dan Levy on DL Eyewear's Bold New Drop and Building the Ideal Optical Wardrobe

In the same way your regular wardrobe should be a curated mix of classic standbys, timeless luxury staples, and trendier favorites, so should your optical wardrobe. Yes, we said optical wardrobe. Whether you wear glasses every day or simply for recreational purposes, eyewear is a key accessory to any look that should be equal parts practical and fun. It’s this thinking that was the catalyst for Emmy-winning writer, director, and actor Dan Levy’s optical line, DL Eyewear. The result of decades of experimentation, DL Eyewear has become the ultimate destination for special frames at an accessible price point that people will both love to wear and collect. 

For its latest collection, the brand has thrown the traditional fall/winter handbook out the window by opting for big, bold color. Think kelly green, cerulean, and cherry red. Best-selling styles, like the mod-inspired Maxwell and the playful cat-eye Pelican, have been given an exciting bright update. We have our eyes on the Pelican in Racer Red to complement our favorite crimson pieces this fall. The collection also features a new style, a beautifully crafted metal aviator silhouette called Heath, which is offered in three tinted lenses—Raspberry Mirror, Navy, and Coffee.

Ahead of the fall drop, which is now available online, we caught up with Levy to talk about the new styles he loves, how to build the perfect optical wardrobe, and his eyewear icons.

The new DL Eyewear launched this week. Can you tell us about the inspiration for these new styles? What was on your mood board?

Color! Big, bold color. We wanted to infuse the often dreaded fall/winter with some warmth, life, and excitement. 

We know you are very thoughtful about your drops. What was a big design consideration for this collection?

A lot of it was reappropriating best-selling frames like Pelican and Maxwell, offering them in exciting new colorways while also introducing a new shape—our wire Heath frame in both optical and sun. I love it so much and have been wearing the optical frames as my new day-to-day. 

What are the fall eyewear trends (shapes, colors, etc.) you are really loving right now?

I’m just enjoying the fact that we’ve gotten to this place with eyewear where people are having fun and collecting. That’s been our mission from the start, to inspire people to build eyewear collections and use them like they would any other accessory. 

Can you talk a little about this idea of building an optical wardrobe? What should every optical wardrobe have?

As someone who wears glasses every day, the reality is some shapes or colors go better with certain outfits than others. For example, I tend to prefer bolder frames with suiting to give the formality of the look a more playful, nostalgic edge. I’ve been wearing the new Heath frame with a T-shirt and jeans when I’m feeling more low-key. Eyewear is a crucial accessory when it comes to polishing up a look. For so long, we’ve been conditioned to look at glasses as a more practical thing, something we should only buy one pair of. It’s a new day, baby! Let’s party.

At this point, how many pairs of frames do you have in your optical wardrobe?

Oh boy. At this point, including all the samples we’ve made, upwards of around 100?

Which styles from DL Eyewear are currently on heavy rotation for you?

Optical, I rotate through Heath, Chorley, and Beaumont. Sun, I’ve been loving the Maxwells. Our Moore frame is the perfect everyday frame. 

What would you say is one of DL Eyewear’s most popular styles?

Whitehall and Rose are the first frames I designed, and they remain some of our best sellers. Moore and Pelican, we can’t seem to keep [them] in stock. I love checking in on the website to see what people are buying. 

As someone who has been wearing eyewear since the age of 8, what are the telltale signs of a really great pair of frames and things we should look for? What should we steer clear of?

Fit. The right frame should flatter your face, punctuate your cheekbones, and make you feel good. Also, a mistake a lot of people make is choosing frames that sit too high or too low on their nose. It’s tricky to get that right fit, which is why we try to offer a frame for every face shape.

Funny question, but who are some of your eyewear icons?

Elton John changed the game. Jackie O, Paul Newman, James Dean. Harry Styles has done a lot for eyewear recently.

Up next: The Fall Issue—Your Guide to What Matters Most Right Now