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Serving the Stylish
Gentlemen’s Breakfast
Echo Park and Laguna Beach, Calif.
Van de la Sant, Owner

Unique in that it was created by a young, stylish man for young, stylish men, Gentlemen’s Breakfast is certainly aware of the men’s market. However, owner Van de la Sant is less concerned with trends than with expressing his own appreciation for vintage eyewear.

“I don’t really talk about brands because it’s limiting. I just like to show rare and beautiful frames,” de la Sant said. “Quality and design are more important [than brand].”

 
 Store owner Van de la Sant prides himself in the vintage-inspired décor of his two Gentlemen’s Breakfast locations in Southern California.

This sentiment, according to de la Sant, is shared by his customers as well. “Guys don’t wear logos like they used to on their eyewear. In 2002, they were buying glasses for labels…Now people realize that luxury doesn’t need a loud logoBrand might matter initially, but when it comes down to it, shape is more important than brand. It’s the material and design that speaks for itself,” de la Sant said.

Having owned his store since 2011, the optician of 13 years attributes his success to the recent progression in men’s eyewear and men’s fashion. “Over the decades, the way that men dress has been going from metrosexual to masculine. It comes in cycles,” he said. “Generations ago, guys wore the same pair for years and years…[Now] guys are buying more frames than they used to. I happened to come around at the right time with Gentlemen’s Breakfast. In the last few years, men have wanted to be manly again.”