About us

From Digital Tech to Hand-Milled Acetate

For years, my design canvas lived on screens. As a senior design leader working in tech, my career was dedicated to shaping complex digital ecosystems and building seamless user experiences. I love the discipline of design—the empathy, the structure, the problem-solving. But deeply, I felt a pulling need to step away from pixels and channel that creative energy into something tactile, physical, and permanent.

I wanted to design something you could hold in your hand. Something that sat right at the intersection of structural architecture and intense personal identity. I fell in love with independent eyewear.

To truly master the physical geometry of the medium, I went straight to the source. I packed my bags and moved to Florence, Italy, to study eyewear design at the prestigious Polimoda Fashion Institute. Surrounded by old-world Italian craftsmanship, I learned the intricate anatomy of the human face, the structural behavior of premium block materials, and the meticulous engineering required to balance a frame perfectly. It was a creative awakening. My ultimate destination was set: to design and launch my very own independent eyewear collection.

Why I Built This Frameworks

When I returned from Italy, I knew that before rushing my own collection, I wanted to deeply master the global independent eyewear ecosystem from the inside out. I built This Frameworks to serve as my live design lab, research space, and curation gallery.

As an Authorized Dealer for pioneering independent houses like Blake Kuwahara, Thierry Lasry, Portrait, Cazal, and WooW, I hold an uncompromising standard for what enters this shop. Every single frame on this site is truly hand-curated by me through the exacting lens of a senior design leader. If a frame does not meet my precise standards for master structural engineering, sculptural boldness, and artisan craftsmanship, it simply does not make the collection.

The pieces I sell are those that embody all the attributes I respect, revere, and hope to someday reflect in my own debut collection. When you purchase from This Frameworks, you aren't just buying from an anonymous online storefront; you are investing in a piece of design history that has been rigorously vetted by an industry professional. And because this is a precise design lab, I personally review every custom prescription lens order with a human eye before it is processed, ensuring the optical execution matches the caliber of the frame architecture.

Behind the Scenes of a New Collection

This Frameworks isn't static—it is moving closer to that original Italian dream every single day.

Behind the scenes, I am actively prototyping, testing premium materials, and refining the blueprints for my own debut eyewear collection. I believe the design process shouldn’t happen behind closed doors, so I am taking my community along for the ride.

I document every step of this evolution—the design wins, the manufacturing trials, and the raw creative process—in our digital journal, FRAMED. When you explore our blog, you are getting an inside look at how an independent eyewear collection is built from scratch.

Thank you for stepping into the lab, supporting independent design houses, and being a part of this evolution.

Stay bold - Stephanie