No logo. Thirty years of recognition
Featured in Imago Magazine, September 2026
Antwerp, 26/08/2026.
In a market where brands compete to be seen, binôche has spent thirty years choosing the opposite. The Belgian eyewear brand marks its anniversary the same way it built its name: without ever putting a logo on the frame.
Thirty years ago, founder and CEO Gino Gommers made a decision that still defines Binôche today. When he launched his own eyewear brand in 1996, he refused to let a name or logo take the credit. The design, the quality, the craftsmanship would have to speak for themselves. “A logo is easy to make. Trust isn’t. We chose to build that instead, thirty years ago, and it never changed,” says Gommers. The approach has aged well. A binôche frame doesn’t need to raise its voice to be recognised. Those who know, know it by the detail, the shape, the consistency.
The design does the talking
A logo can tell a customer what a brand is worth in a single glance. Binôche built that recognition in a different way. Every frame carries a small, recurring detail, familiar to opticians and loyal wearers alike. But the people standing between the frame and the wearer matter just as much. A pair of glasses is never just a frame. The right advice, the right lenses, a fit tailored to the person wearing them, that’s what makes it personal. Which is why Binôche works exclusively with independent opticians who know the collection inside out, and guide their customers toward the right choice. That same attention carries through to how the frames are made: with care for detail, durable materials, and relationships built to last.
“A logo is easy to make. Trust isn’t. We chose to build that instead, thirty years ago, and it never changed,”
Two workshops, high in the Italian Dolomites
This philosophy is most evident in how the frames are made. For three decades, binôche has worked with family-run workshops in the Italian Dolomites, where craftsmanship passes from one generation to the next. The metal collection comes from the same manufacturer Binôche has partnered with from day one. Frames are cut from solid stainless steel sheets, then go through an extensive colouring process after galvanization: several layers of lacquer, carefully applied and hand-polished. The acetate collection comes from a smaller, younger family workshop higher up in the mountains, where craft is treated with the same seriousness. The sheets used there measure 8mm thick, twice the industry standard, a difference immediately noticeable the moment a frame is picked up.
From Antwerp, and far beyond
What began in 1996 as a distinctly Belgian vision has grown, thirty years on, into an international one. Binôche collections are now sold through independent opticians across the Benelux, France, the United States, and beyond. The designs are born in Antwerp, the production happens in Italy, but the identity travels further still: timeless, refined, and deliberately indifferent to passing trends. That same blend of Belgian creativity and Italian craftsmanship runs through Binôche’s long-standing partnership with Belgian fashion house Natan. For more than seventeen years, Edouard Vermeulen and Gino Gommers have shared the same vision of style, quality, and craftsmanship. Every pair of Natan glasses and sunglasses is developed by Binôche, a partnership where Belgian creativity and artisanal expertise reinforce each other.
Thirty years later, the idea remains unchanged
At a time when visibility is often mistaken for success, Binôche proves that recognition can be built another way. Not by putting a logo front and centre, but by consistently investing in design, quality, craftsmanship, and trust.
