Project Runway: The Cat Eyes Have It

Joseph Aaron Segal wearing his Jean Lempereur glasses from Providence Optical

Lifetime Television launched the 11th season of the reality fashion design competition show Project Runway last Thursday and among the contestants who made the cut in the season premier was Providence’s own Joseph Aaron Segal.  A graduate of RISD’s MFA Textile Design program, Segal started out as a fabric maker, with a heavy concentration on knits and then progressed to making high end apparel utilizing his own playful fabrics.  He is particularly enamored with cats, and he frequently features them – in profusion — sitting calmly and staring wide-eyed with luminous intensity.

Jean Lempereur frame in deep violet with red accents.

Segal has adopted the same wide-eyed look for his own visage, thanks to a pair of round Jean Lempereur specs (model JL 3025) that he purchased here at Providence Optical.  His choice of gray and white stripes fits purr-fectly with his feline fancy.  The solid opal color on the bottom half of the frame fades into the background, which pulls the viewer’s s attention upward, further enhancing the quizzical, wide-eyed look.

The JL 3025 in eggplant with orange accents

The JL 3025 also comes in a solid tortoise (for a professorial look), an artsy eggplant with orange accents, and a very deep violet with a subtle ring of red around the lenses for those who want to make others do a double take.

Segal has two fashion labels, World of JAS and Pretty Snake, which are sold online and in boutiques in the U.S. and Tokyo.  He also teaches industrial knitting at RISD.