PARIS—Silmo has unveiled the nominees for its 2024 Optical Design Contest, marking the third edition of this event. Open to design school students from around the world, this contest focuses on accessory glasses that explore new functionalities and uses aside from correcting and protecting the wearer’s vision. Shoe designer Olivier Jault chairs the contest and met with a jury made up of optics and design professionals to select the nominees this month.

A graduate of the Duperré School of Applied Arts, Jault has collaborated with a number of brands, including Martin Margiela, Givenchy with Alexander McQueen, Saint-Laurent with Tom Ford, J.M. Weston, Repetto, Jean Paul Gaultier and more. He is the co-commissioner of the “Jean-paul Gaultier pour Stéphane Kélian: Roman d’une rencontre” exhibition at the Shoe Museum in Romans-sur-Isère, open until November 3, 2024.

Jury members reviewed the projects, taking into account their creative, innovative design dimension and the proposed products’ use and function within the scope of the theme, Silmo stated. The project’s feasibility, including the production of a 3D printed prototype, was also assessed. The jury will meet again at Silmo on the morning of September 20 to choose the winner.

This year’s nominees are:

DISTROAL by Thomas Deneufbourg - École de Design Nantes Atlantique
Glasses as support accessories for users that have specific needs, including people affected by disorders on the autism spectrum and anxiety disorders. Distroal means “calming" in the Breton language.

LUCID by Perrine Payen – Rubika
“Forgotten objects” like the pocket watch and the monocle are recycled and find a new life by being transformed into elegant magnifying glasses.

RHOÉ by Theo Vanpoperynghe - ISD Rubika
An original designer device to help with eye strain.

SOUND SIGHT by Nolan Guenot -Ecole Supérieur De Design de Troyes
Bone conduction glasses; proven technology that is reinvented here with an aerial aesthetic.

SPECTAPOP by Camille Grand - ISD Rubika
Glasses with an uncompromising, attention-grabbing, fun design for visual hide-and-seek.

VIEWPROJECT by Amélie MEERSSEMAN - École de design Nantes Atlantique
Innovative, designer protective eyewear, imagined as fit-over glasses for prescription eyeglass wearers.