Patty Perreira, of Barton Perreira, has carved a distinct niche in the over-saturated eyewear market with superior quality designs that have a slightly more feminine perspective. After an illustrious 18 years at Oliver Peoples, she and the company's president, Bill Barton, branched off to combine their creative powers with Barton Perreira. Following an unprecedented launch at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Jeffrey, Fred Segal and Barneys, the company recently teamed up with the latter for a limited edition reproduction of filmmaker Albert Maysles' iconic black frames. JC Report's own Beauty Guru, Geoffrey Rodriguez, recently caught up with Perreira to chat about the latest collaboration, the influence of cosmetics on her designs and how to choose the right frames.

JC Report: Why did you choose to recreate Albert Maysles' glasses for your project with Barney's?

Patty Perreira: Albert Maysles is amazing and we are so proud to be associated with him. The frame really looks great on so many people—men and women. The style is extremely classic and timeless, and also available as sunglasses.

JCR: Do you find that eyewear is as potentially complementary to one's face as beautifully applied make-up?

PP: Absolutely. The right frames not only add character and distinction to a person's face, but can also be as flattering as good eyebrows. The subtle curves and contours of eyebrows and cheekbones, etc., are so important to the fit of a frame but also have a tremendous influence on my designs.

JCR: How do cosmetics influence your designs?

PP: I've always been inspired by make-up particularly for color. The vibrant colors of eye shadows, eyeliners and lipstick are often used as inspiration for my designs. Certain shades of red are great to wear as a frame as are blues and greens. The subtleties of eye-shadow colors can also work in the same way color is graduated on lenses, and, when combined with the perfect frame, can be extremely complementary to the face.

JCR: Some of the details on the frames also seem reminiscent of vintage jewelry, compacts and handbags. Is this accurate and if so where did you learn to appreciate fine details like this?

PP: Growing up, my family did not have a lot of money. My mother used to either alter thrift shop finds or make our clothes from remnant fabrics we'd find at the thrift-stores, so I was always intrigued by vintage jewelry and glasses. I suppose that's where I became aware of certain details in design.

JCR: Can you talk a bit about your design process?

PP: I design with a specific face shape in mind and sketch a frame freehand. Once that is done, we superimpose the design onto an image of a face to see how the lines work and then make the necessary adjustments.

JCR: After so long at Oliver Peoples, what ultimately made you decide to do your own line?

PP: Originally it was not planned to design an eyewear collection. I actually left Oliver Peoples before we started doing Barton Perreira with a loose plan to design jewelry, which has always been a passion and hobby. It wasn't until communicating with Bill [Barton] after we had both left Oliver Peoples that we decided to do a line just purely based on our mutual passion for interesting eyewear.

JCR: Can you give some tips on choosing the right frames?

PP: Personal style is the most important thing to consider and so much depends on your face shape. Consider frames that contrast the shape of your face and also consider frames and lens colors that really complement your skin-tone. As with make-up, cooler skin-tones generally look best in cool shades like black, grey, lilac, rose, etc., and warm skin-tones look best in warm tones such as brown, tortoise, golds, honey, red, etc. If you choose a white frame, be sure it's not whiter than your teeth.

JCR: What keeps you excited about the business?

PP: It's always very exciting to see someone wearing our eyewear, but when someone famous is photographed wearing our frames that's also very exciting! We don't usually know when or where a celebrity may have purchased a pair or our glasses so it's certainly an honor to see someone famous whose been photographed wearing them out. Generally speaking, though, we have extremely loyal customers who are very much "in the know" and that's very rewarding.

This interview was conducted by Geoffrey Rodriguez