Jérôme Mage, the visionary founder of luxury eyewear brand Jacques Marie Mage, shares his journey from rural France to the creative hub of Los Angeles. He discusses the transformative nature of sunglasses and their role in personal identity, emphasizing how they can serve as cultural symbols. Mage reveals his inspirations from history and craftsmanship, along with the challenges of balancing creativity with commercial demands. With a focus on quality over mass production, he highlights the significance of storytelling in fashion and the strength found in an outsider's perspective.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Sunglasses' Transformative Power
Jérôme Mage's passion for sunglasses started when he saw his brother wearing Vuarnet sunglasses at age 15.
He felt sunglasses were transformative and provide a way to hide in a modern intrusive world.
question_answer ANECDOTE
From Auvergne to LA
Jérôme Mage moved from Auvergne, France, to Los Angeles seeking creative freedom and a passion for Californian action sports.
A teenage road trip across America's West Coast left a strong impression on him, fueling his love for the West.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Starting Independent Luxury Brand
Mage noticed luxury shifted from product design to influencer marketing and mass production.
Feeling frustrated, he decided to start his own project focusing on high-quality, limited-edition eyewear.
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Jérôme Mage is the founder and creative force behind Jacques Marie Mage, the luxury eyewear brand known for its distinctive silhouettes, limited production runs and deep-rooted storytelling. Originally from the Auvergne region in France, Mage relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of creative freedom and with a deep passion for California's outdoor culture.
His brand comes from a personal mission to reimagine luxury through the lens of collectibility, history and craft, starting with an obsession about sunglasses from a young age.
“When I was 10 years old, my brother was 15, he came back with a pair of Vuarnet in my house. … I've never really seen my brother with glasses before and I was like wow looks so cool,” says Mage. I think for a lot of people it is transformative. … We live in a modern world that can be quite intrusive. All day people’s lives are on display and I think it's very nice to hide behind a pair of sunglasses.”
With each design, Mage channels his vast array of influences — from American mythologies to Napoleonic tailoring and iconic personalities — and transforms them into expressive objects with enduring emotional power.
Hot on the heels of the brand’s latest retail opening, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed sat down with Mage at his new gallery on Rue de la Paix in Paris to explore how he built a cult luxury eyewear brand rooted in rarity, storytelling and craftsmanship – and why having an outsider’s perspective is en his greatest creative strength.
Key Insights:
"My story is one of collectibility. That’s why I think people collect those glasses," says mage. A lifelong collector of everything from vintage eyewear to Napoleonic uniforms, Mage believes the story behind an object is what gives it lasting value. "Each pair of glasses needs to be charged up, infused with a story: a story of the past, but told in a modern way for a new generation."
Mage is critical of the contemporary luxury industry's shift towards mass production, emphasising that true luxury must maintain an inherent rarity. “I really wanted to return to a sense of rarity because for me there's no luxury without rarity – it's impossible," he says. Mage believes the current model, predicated on constant growth, is unsustainable. To resist that pressure, he committed to a deliberately complex and limited production model: "I did everything limited edition because it was almost guaranteeing me that I wouldn't fall in that trap."
For Mage, embracing the role of the outsider enables deeper creativity and more meaningful work. "If you accept that role of outsider, then you're able to have a point of view or create something that is more tangible, more unique, and that has more value," he says. "Because obviously you look at things from a different point of view than others. And that's a true quality in being an outsider." His advice to anyone who feels they don’t fit in? "Don't be discouraged. If you stick long enough with it, it'll become a great asset in life."
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