The time of the hands

Every LAPIMA frame begins with a gesture — a quiet decision to create something enduring.

In a world shaped by speed and automation, the LAPIMA atelier moves differently. Based in Campinas, São Paulo, it brings together 25 artisans, all trained in-house, to shape eyewear with sculptural presence and tactile precision.

Each frame goes through more than 30 stages of making. A sketch becomes structure. A sheet of Italian cellulose acetate becomes volume. Technology supports — but the eye and the hand lead. Machines cut. Hands refine. Cotton wheels polish. Time reveals. 

A new model may take up to a year to complete. Not because it must — but because it should. Ideas are allowed to mature. Prototypes are handled, tested, reworked. Here, time isn’t rushed. It’s part of the material.

Over the years, LAPIMA has developed proprietary techniques that ensure its signature dimensionality and balance. The polishing process, done entirely by hand, draws out the depth and clarity of the acetate — until light moves across it like water.

Every LAPIMA frame carries the memory of its making. Not only in form, but in feel. That’s why we keep everything close: the design, the craft, the people. Because to us, precision is not only technical. It’s personal.