AHLEM was founded in 2014 by Paris-born designer Ahlem
Manai-Platt, who first broached the subject with friends at a café
in Paris. “We were discussing goals, and I showed the group
a sketch from my notebook,” she says. “The excitement they
expressed gave me the guts; the loss of a beloved pair of vintage
sunnies shortly thereafter gave me the final push.”
What emerged from those initial sketches was a debut run of nine
handmade eyewear frames rendered in premium plant-based Italian
acetate. Out of the gate, AHLEM had a fully formed point of view
that carries through today.
With boutiques in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco,
AHLEM’s organic shapes and elegant geometries exist beyond
trend, in the belief that objects of timeless design and superior
quality are always relevant.