Morgenthal Frederics Unveils First Collection From DITA Founders

Morgenthal Frederics will launch its first collection under new creative directors John Juniper and Jeff Solorio on Oct. 15, with frames priced from $795 to $2,995. The DITA founders' debut marks a new direction for the New York eyewear house that counts Spike Lee, LeBron James and Mick Jagger among its wearers.

The Fall/Winter 2026 lineup expands the brand's Japanese acetate (a plant-based plastic prized for its depth of color) and titanium offerings, adding sculptural silhouettes, intricate metalwork and purple temple tips as a subtle new signature. Japanese artisans produce the frames, which feature hand-etched surfaces, custom metal accents and detailing on the lenses and nose pads.

Juniper and Solorio are familiar names in luxury eyewear. Childhood friends, they founded DITA in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s and built the label around Japanese craftsmanship and vintage-inspired silhouettes. Their influence spread across the designer eyewear business, most visibly through DITA's 2011 collaboration with Thom Browne.

What does the appointment change?

Morgenthal Frederics dates to 1913, when it began as Frederics Opticians in Manhattan. It took its current name in 1986 under optician Richard Morgenthal. The brand introduced natural buffalo horn eyewear in 2006, and those handcrafted frames became its signature.

The new directors aren't abandoning horn. They're applying the same attention to materials and construction to acetate and titanium instead.

"What draws us to Morgenthal Frederics is that it has nearly a hundred years of history, yet creatively it still feels like a clean slate," the designers said in a joint statement. "There's a great team around the brand, a lot of support, and no unnecessary guardrails. That gives us the freedom to build something beautiful at the highest level—and that's what excites us."

Who wears the frames?

Celebrity patronage has sustained the brand's reputation. Lee, whose oversized, brightly colored glasses have become nearly as recognizable as his Knicks fandom, has commissioned custom orange frames from Morgenthal Frederics. Norman Reedus has appeared in a campaign for the label.

The collection is accompanied by a campaign titled "Heritage in Motion," photographed by London-based Darren Gwynn. It arrives in Morgenthal Frederics boutiques and online on Oct. 15.

The bet, essentially, is that the men who turned luxury spectacles into a fashion category can give a 112-year-old optician a second act. The first verdict arrives with the October delivery.