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Example of a thick titanium rim

His first job at DITA turned out to have
unanticipated social benefits: the company
was based in Hollywood and their high-end Example of hex screws and rivets
eyewear was a draw for celebrities. DITA
staff were invited to parties and got
backstage passes to some of the biggest
concerts of the day. Hardly a dull life for a
guy in his 20’s!
Jeff Solorio, one of DITA’s founders,
discovered that Castillo could draw and
began asking his input on design concepts.
“One day he asked me if I wanted to try PORTRAIT OF A DESIGNER
designing a frame from scratch and I jumped
at the opportunity. My first project was
coming up with an eyewear line for a clothing / mod. Nightbird /
company called BEBE. That sparked my
desire to design eyewear full time. I am
grateful that Jeff and the other founders of Castillo works with his design team of All DITA frames are finished in
DITA, John Juniper, and Troy Schmidt, liked Han Roh and Louis Lee, who hail from Japan. “The quality from Japan
my work and my work ethic. They are my the automotive industry. “I am so lucky is simply superb and the level of
brothers and I owe them everything.” to have these genius designers working detail in our frames demands
this,” notes Castillo. “And we have
For Castillo, inspiration can come from with me. They come up with unique ideas our own factory, which allows
anywhere. “Thankfully, there are no and I find creative ways to apply them. us to invest in the research and
boundaries to inspiration. Case in point: This is vital to staying relevant and development that keeps us at the
we were working on a detail for a women’s forward-thinking in this saturated market. top of our game.”
sunglass and wanted a metal rim to hold the DITA was the first company to use
lens without using the traditional groove. I super-wide titanium rim wire to draw Father of three daughters and an
remembered a board game that my children attention to the frame’s decorative infant son, Castillo is no doubt
play called Connect Four, where you drop elements. They started using hex screws making his father and uncles
these round chips between two vertical walls, and slotted nuts to mount hinges when proud as he maintains the family
and this was the inspiration for construction other companies were still using tradition of problem-solving in
of the DITA NIGHTBIRD. It achieved traditional rivets. “We brought back the design. In his downtime, Castillo
out-of-the-box thinking that speaks to how use of 0-base lenses. Now everyone uses loves fly fishing and camping with
we want our frames constructed. Not only them,” says Castillo. Winning the Silmo his family. “But my wife, Vivian,
that, it challenged our manufacturer to come is the brains behind our family
up with a totally new way to apply tension to a d’Or for best frame at the 2013 edition life. I’m simply the guy who
lens. We like to challenge our manufacturers of the Silmo trade show in Paris was a designs eyewear. Thankfully, I
to find new ways to achieve the ordinary. major milestone and further confirmation just happen to be really good at
E
This is what keeps DITA’s designs original.” of Castillo’s talent. what I do.”. l

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