Ahlem Eyewear Gets Its Own Venice Digs

The sun exists.

Your eyes exist.

Boats and brunches and picnics and outdoor music festivals and long walks on the beach exist.

Therefore…

You need Ahlem, the first brick-and-mortar for those Paris-inspired glasses and sunglasses that have been kicking around without a permanent home for a few years now. It’s currently open in Venice, and you can check it out here in pictures.

Walk inside. Filling the shelves and drawers to your right you’ll find their full collection of handmade metal and vintage acetate sunglasses and eyeglasses named for Parisian places, streets and neighborhoods. The same ones coveted by not-unknown people like Daniel Craig, A$AP Rocky, Vincent Cassel and Beyoncé. And some special releases yet to be coveted by Beyoncé.

Consider the straight-angled rims and flat lenses of the rose-gold-brushed Victoire shades before shoving off for the desert. Or the classically beachy black matte Goncourts before hitting some nearby sand. Or the 24K gold lenses and frames of the Concorde. Because they exist.

On your left, to the other side of some impressive cacti, you’ll also find some nice-looking things you can use at home. Like Caran d’Ache stationery, international art-and-design magazines, Queue’s slim Japanese lighters and a ceramic tape dispenser.

Overall, just a great eyewear-to-cacti-to-tape-dispenser ratio.