Optometrist Emma Dowding wears her Meryl design

Optometrist Emma Dowding is adding eyewear designer to her CV, with her limited-edition frames now available in Specsavers stores across Australia. 

Dowding, joint venture partner at Manjimup and Busselton Western Australia, entered a competition to design her own spectacles two years ago, as part of the Specsavers Internal Limited-Edition Frames competition. She has since spent the past two years working closely with the Specsavers product team to develop her two designs, Meryl and Ked.  

Drawing from years of experience with working with customers, Dowding designed the ‘Meryl’ frame to appeal women her age and older. She said the frame is inspired by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, while the Ked design is a tribute to her daughter Katie. 

The Meryl frames also feature chrome metallic quilted temples, which is a consistent feature across both the optical and sunglass styles and is a nod to Dowding’s passion for patchwork quilting.