Speedy Specs: Fashion Eyewear says it can deliver same-day luxury prescription glasses in a matter of hours — we put them to the (eye) test

Clark Kent may be known for hiding his superpowers behind his glasses, but even Superman would be hard-pressed to match Fashion Eyewear when it comes to saving the day with speedy prescription specs.

Paired with Knightbridge’s luxury eyewear store Maverick & Wolf, FashionEyewear.com makes a bold promise — if you live in London and make an order through its website, you’ll have new glasses made to your specific prescription needs delivered on the very same day.

And we’re not just talking about no-name plastic frames here: Tom Ford, Gucci, Ray-Ban, Celine, Cartier — Fashion Eyewear stocks them all, and can get them to your door just a matter of hours after you click the buy button. It’s a process that can take days or weeks at even the biggest highstreet optician chains, so how’s Fashion Eyewear manage it?

We caught up with founder Tej Johal to find out — and to put the service to the test.

Location, location, location

The secret sauce isn’t quite as glamorous as the brands being carried — it’s all, essentially, down to having a well-stocked warehouse in good old Chiswick.

“We're based in London, and none of our rivals are,” explains Tej.

“The big labs and sunglasses providers tend to be out in Swindon or somewhere.

“But as we are in London, and we’ve basically got a warehouse stocked with all the frames, and all the lenses — Zeiss, 80% of single vision lenses — so as soon as someone hits that buy button, it will go straight to order, and we can turn it around in half an hour. We can ship it same-day, via courier.”

And it’s been a hands-on, ground-up operation from day one, with Tej leveraging his experience as an optometrist to get the business internationally recognised.

“We were founded in 2009 — I was in a practice when I started, just me and my receptionist, in Farnborough, and I used to do all the orders manually,” he recalls.

“My friend made me a website for £2,000, and then I started getting orders coming in. I'd walk down to the Royal Mail post office, carrying out the entire customer service. And then we started to get two or three orders, then 50 orders, then international orders and it all grew from there.

“Then we started to get more exclusive brands. There's not many sellers for a lot of the brands that are here — Chanel, Cartier, Dior, they're not readily available. There's maybe two independent sellers in the UK.”

The process

The thought of buying your glasses online might feel a bit daunting — they’re an extension of your face after all, and what may look great on the face of a supermodel in the pages of your favourite fashion mag might look a bit more ‘Dennis Taylor’ on your less-chisseled mug.

But Fashion Eyewear makes the process as seamless as possible. Provided you’ve got your prescription details handy (you can always go instore at Marverick & Wolf and have your eyes checked with their cutting edge equipment if you’re overdue for a test), it’s simply a matter of picking your frames and inserting your details. You can even do an IPD test (interpupillary distance, the space between the pupils of your eyes) with your webcam and a credit card, to ensure the focal point of your soon-to-be-ordered lenses are accurate.

But what about actually trying on the glasses? Rather than just eyeballing a product page, the Fashion Eyewear website lets you try the specs on — virtually, at least. It’ll use an augmented reality filter to overlay the glasses on your face — and while the weight and fit may be a mystery until delivery, at least you’ll know if your pick suits your face shape and complexion.

As for that same day delivery claim? It’s solid — we picked out a relatively rare pair of Tom Ford frames, ordered around lunch time and had them at home in Greenwich five or so hours later that evening. Everything was safely packaged and, as I’d picked clear lenses rather than the default blue-tint the frames come with, I even had the blue-tint options thrown in as spares.

Fashion Eyewear has its sights set on expanding in three key areas, too — new, even faster courier service options, pre-loved and recycled options, and an even bigger focus on bespoke and customisation choices. It’s the future, says Tej, with customers increasingly looking for tints and tweaks to make their specs unique.

“That's where we've got an edge on everyone, alongside the speed that we turn around deliveries — the tints, colours, customisation options and everything.”

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