Kaleos was founded in Barcelona in 2013 by Claudia Brotons, who moved into eyewear from fashion styling. That shift explains why the brand has always looked at frames less as optical instruments and more as objects of style and architecture. Barcelona itself is visible in the collections, from the hard Mediterranean light to the tension between Gothic density and modernist clarity. Frames are designed in house and released twice a year, though each model often takes over twelve months from sketch to production. The pace is slow by design, matching the discipline of a studio that resists quick release cycles.
Custom Hinges and the Discipline of Craft
Kaleos works through hundreds of production stages, starting with Mazzucchelli acetate, hand cutting, polishing, and finishing with hinges designed exclusively for the brand. Unlike many labels, Kaleos avoids stock mouldings, choosing instead to invest in custom pieces that alter how a frame feels when worn. Lenses are treated with equal attention. They are tested for clarity and durability, chosen for how they filter light across skin and surface rather than as a checklist of technical claims. The result is frames that feel playful in shape but uncompromising in construction.
Kaleos frames are designed to work with light rather than shut it out. Amber, olive, and smoky grey lenses shift depending on the setting, altering how tone is read on skin, fabric, and stone. The lenses are technically precise, scratch resistant and clear, yet the emphasis lies less in blocking glare than in interpreting it. Contemporary cinema faces the same question, as directors weigh the sharpness of digital lenses against the textured imperfection of analogue film. Kaleos translates that tension into eyewear, proving that design is not about cancelling brightness but about shaping how it is lived and remembered.
“Kaleos comes from the Greek word for ‘beautiful shape’. One of our key objectives is to find the connection between the shape and inherent beauty through the creation of statement pieces.”
