STYLE: Style.Pages Style Pages Check.Out: Garrett Leight California Optical By Deirdre Carroll Thursday, April 10, 2014 12:00 AM #TheCOLLECTION Garrett Leight California Optical Garrett Leight was born and raised in Los Angeles and went to college on the central coast of California. In 2009, he independently opened his first eyewear concept store, A. Kinney Court in Venice, Calif. and shortly after opening, launched his first eponymous eyewear collection of hand finished acetate and metal frames. GLCO draws inspiration from the variety of characters he encounters, as well as interesting individuals from the past, and fuses that with the California lifestyle. Leight attributes much of the brand’s success to the idea of value. The concept has always been to provide the highest quality and most timeless designs for the best price possible. MSRP is $285 to $375. @Retail David Schultz, OD, Owner, Urban Optics, San Luis Obispo, Calif. “GLCO combines timeless shapes with a California feel which melds perfectly with our coastal college community.” What are you selling? We have known Garrett Leight since he attended the local university and worked for us part time. We started carrying GLCO over two years ago, adding it as soon as I could view the first collection. I was so confident; I let Garrett select the styles and colors for our first order. He continues to make the trip up the coast from Venice for each new collection. Who’s buying it? We do especially well with the classic preppy shape, Kinney (worn by Dr. Schultz here), which works for students and professors alike. Their varying shades of tortoise are very popular, including chestnut, honey blonde, demi blonde and leopard. In sun, it’s the Kinney in butterscotch with pure green lenses. Why do they like it? GLCO puts a lot of effort and imagination into their photo shoots set in various California landscapes and settings. His models are young and hip, a laid back style our clients and patients can identify with. We show off the images in his look book kept in our waiting area. We also relate Garrett’s journey from college student and Urban Optics employee to eyewear designer.