Google Doodle honors Altina Schinasi cat eye glasses

On 4th August Google Doodle honors Altina "Tina" Schinasi, a legendary American fashion designer known for creating the popular "cat-eye" eyeglass frames.

Altina Schinasi should be given credit if you've ever worn a pair of cat-eye sunglasses. The iconic Harlequin eyeglass frame that was very popular in the 1930s was created by this American sculptor, artist, and filmmaker, who is perhaps best known for it. Harlequin frames, also known as cat-eye frames, continue to rule the women's sunglasses market because their allure never really faded.

Early Years of Altina Schinasi

The artist was born on August 4, 1907, in Manhattan, New York. She would have turned 116 today. Schinasi, a Sephardic Jewish Turkish woman whose parents were immigrants and whose mother was from Salonica.

Altina first developed an interest in the arts when she moved to Paris to study painting after finishing high school. She later relocated back to the United States where she studied art at The Art Students League in New York.

She was a window dresser in the initial stages of her career and worked for several Fifth Avenue stores. She had the chance to study with well-known artists like George Grosz and Salvador Dali, both of whom she admired.

Breakthrough for Schinasi

Altina Schinasi was a prolific inventor who registered numerous patents over the course of her lifetime, but the Harlequin cat eye glasses marked her big break.

Having been unimpressed by the selection of eyeglass frames available for women, she had an inspiration while she was crossing the street. Schinasi created her own line of cat-eye frames because the only options available to women were round frames.

Google said,

"At the window display of a nearby optician's office, she noticed that the only option for women’s glasses tended to be round frames with mundane designs, "

Altina Schinasi was inspired by this observation to create a special design specifically for women, imitating the shape of the Harlequin masks she saw people wearing in Venice, Italy during the Carnevale festival.

Continuous Rejection

She began cutting out paper prototypes of her creative frame design because she thought the pointed edges framed the face more attractively.

As her design moved closer to being put into production, every major manufacturer rejected it, citing how edgy it was. She approached a local store owner because she was adamant about it. As a result of the proprietor's confidence in her ability, the Harlequin glasses quickly gained popularity and brought Schansi widespread attention.

She ventured outside of the cat eye glasses and into the film industry. She produced George Grosz's Interregnum, a documentary by her former instructor, in 1960. This documentary won first place at the Venice Film Festival and was an Academy Award nominee. In 1995, she released her autobiography, The Road I Have Traveled.

She even volunteered as an art therapist.

she invented unique portrait benches and chairs that became known as Chairacters. Altina's cat eye design continues to be popular in global fashion accessory trends today, nearly a century after its invention.

The cat eye frames had achieved peak glitz by the 1930s and 1940s. Women of note would wear Schinasi's design. While Audrey Hepburn wore a pair in the Marilyn Monroe made the eyeglasses a signature look.