The founder

Why I started noframe

I wanted to walk into a room looking like money, without paying designer prices for it. Every pair with that clean, old-money finish cost thousands. So I had one made, wore it, and strangers kept stopping me to ask where I got it. That is how noframe started.

Johan du Plessis, founder. 4 minutes.

The story

How noframe started

01

The look I wanted read like old money.

I dress with intent. Good clothes, clean fits. And I still felt one piece short of looking properly put together. The finish I wanted looked like old money, not a logo across my chest.
02

The pair with that finish cost four grand.

The rimless pairs that had it sat between R3,000 and R8,000. One I actually loved was R4,800. I turned it over, saw the tag, and put it back. The look was locked behind a price I was not going to pay.
03

So I had it made properly.

This started out selfish. I just wanted that pair at a price that made sense. I found someone who could make it rimless, in metal instead of plastic, and had one made for myself.
04

Then strangers started stopping me.

I wore it everywhere, and the same thing kept happening. People I had never met stopped me in the street to ask where I got them.
05

So I put it on strangers and filmed it.

I wanted to know if it was just me, or if the pair did it for anyone. So I stopped people on the street, put it on them, and filmed what they said. It was not just me.

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“It looks like very old money.”
Filmed on the street

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“I feel rich, man.”
Zahir

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“I feel confident.”
Filmed on the street

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“I’d pick these over my pair.”
A collector, his dad worked for Oakley

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“It’s a bargain, it’s a good price.”
Simon

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“I feel a lot cooler.”
Filmed on the street
06

That is noframe.

noframe is one idea. You should be able to look like money without spending it, and see the world with nothing across your face. One rimless frame, in metal, five tints, at a price you do not have to think about for a week first.

Camps Bay at golden hour. Nothing between me and it.

I am not going to pretend these are the four grand pair. They are not. A big part of that price is the name on the arm, and I was never going to pay it. What I wanted was the look, in metal, at a price that makes sense. That is the trade I made, and it is the whole reason noframe exists.