Francis Klein is a family-run Parisian eyewear house, founded in 1970, that designs and hand-makes decorated optical frames and sunglasses entirely in France. This is what “100% handmade in France” concretely means for us: four distinct artisan crafts behind a single frame, a refusal of mass production, and a pair personalised to the person who wears it.

Key facts

• Founded in 1970 by optician Francis Klein and his wife Michèle, the house is run today by their two daughters, Dixie and Betty.
• A single decorated frame can involve four separate artisan crafts: hand engraving, laser drawing, rhinestone setting, 3D-element placement, and haute couture jewellery work.
• Every frame is 100% handmade in France: the plain frame in a French workshop, the decoration hand-applied by selected artists. Never mass-produced.
• Each design is built around the wearer’s own choice of shape, colour and decoration.
• Francis Klein frames reach wearers through independent opticians worldwide and from our Parisian showroom.

What is Francis Klein?

Francis Klein occupies a specific corner of the eyewear world: high-end frames that are decorated, colourful and made by hand, built around each wearer’s own choice of shape, colour and decoration. Our DNA comes down to five words: glamour, decoration, colour, originality and craftsmanship. We can also affirm that with our experience of 2 generations we are confident to dress each person’s eyes with a unique touch.

Unlike the large groups that dominate optical retail, we do not manufacture at scale. That single decision shapes everything that follows.

Where does the 1970 story begin?

The house began with an optician who noticed a shift: eyewear was no longer only a medical correction, it was becoming a fashion accessory. Rather than resell what everyone else offered, Francis and Michèle Klein chose to design their own collection.

More than fifty years later, the business is still family-run. Their two daughters, Dixie and Betty, continue to develop the brand from a Parisian showroom, keeping the founding values of craftsmanship, elegance and creativity while refreshing the collections each season. That continuity is not a style a competitor can copy; it is a lineage.

What does “100% handmade in France” actually involve?

Several trades come together in a single pair of Francis Klein glasses. The plain acetate frame is produced by hand in a French workshop. Separately, each decoration is conceived and drawn by our team, then entrusted to artists chosen for one specific skill.

Those skills span four recognisable crafts: hand engraving, laser drawing, rhinestone setting, the placement of 3D elements, and haute couture jewellery work. The result is a frame that is decorated, not printed. Every embellishment is physically set by a person. That is what “made in France” means here in practice: not a label on the box, but a chain of named crafts kept in the country rather than outsourced.

Why choose handmade over mass production?

Mass production optimises for sameness and cost. A hand workshop optimises for the opposite: variation, material quality, and the ability to make one specific frame for one specific person.

For the wearer, that means a frame can be genuinely personalised: a suitable and comfortable shape, a colour chosen, a decoration specified. For us, it means quality is built in at every step rather than inspected at the end of a line. It is also why our frames are fitted by independent opticians rather than sold off a shelf: a decorated, personalised frame deserves a specialist.

Glamour, not minimalism: where does Francis Klein sit?

This is our clearest point of difference. Where much of French luxury eyewear signals refinement through restraint, we signal it through decoration: rainbow rhinestone frames, feathers set inside acetate, cat-eye silhouettes, a signature.

That choice has kept wearers loyal for decades. Some have worn their Francis Klein frame as a signature of their personality for more than twenty years. In a market full of minimalist frames, glamour is not a compromise. It is the reason people choose us.

How is a Francis Klein frame made your own?

No two faces are the same, so no two frames need be. Every model can be specified by shape, colour and decoration, and each carries its own reference code so the exact combination can be reproduced or adjusted.

Choosing well is part of the pleasure. We offer consultations, in our Parisian showroom or online, to advise on the shape and colour that will suit you best, camera on so we can see you.

Where can you find Francis Klein frames?

Because each frame is decorated and often personalised, we reach wearers through specialists rather than mass retail. Our Parisian showroom welcomes visitors by appointment, in person or online.

Internationally, we bring the collection directly to independent opticians through trunk shows: temporary events where a boutique hosts the full range, including designs rarely seen outside France. For an optician, hosting Francis Klein is a way to offer a handmade, French, limited-run collection that sets a practice apart from chains selling the same industrial brands.