LYF, acronym of the French Les Yeux Fertiles, founded in 2009 by Cristina Frasca, who is in the driving seat as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, is considered worldwide the holy book among the publications of the sector.
The name, taken from a poetic collection by Paul Éluard, symbolically expresses a sensitive and active gaze towards the exuberant aspect of life that manifests itself in the multiplicity of artistic creation.
LYF is not just a magazine, but a pathway, a constantly evolving laboratory, a nonchalant dialogue in which different personalities come together, telling their stories, each contributing their own individual poetry.
Each issue has a different theme around which it develops, from the cover, the photo shoots, the pages edited by some of the designers who have changed the world’s way of ‘seeing’, in a harmonious coexistence of different styles and languages.
The deep passion with which the magazine is conceived and realised, the care in terms of graphics, the desire to surprise the reader every time, the contribution of research and innovation, often ironic and nonconformist but always attentive to the latest trends in design and to the new creative avant-gardes, make each issue an unexpected revelation and LYF an absolutely unique and wonderful project, with guidelines but without rigid boundaries to respect.
“Years ago I read an anthological collection by Paul Éluard that I liked a lot, it was called Les Yeux Fertiles. It contained a movement of fervent creative research. In the work there were Picasso’s eyes in a poem dedicated to him, Surrealism, Breton’s research, the dream.
One day, wandering through the streets of Paris, while I was thinking about the name to give my magazine, I came across an art gallery whose name was precisely Les Yeux Fertiles.
It seemed to me a circumstance wanted by fate. However, I could not choose such a long name, so I opted for the acronym LYF.
I liked the idea of a magazine, though focused on eyewear, with a strong connotation linked to literature, art, constant creative research.
The name is the emblem of a sensitive and active gaze, referring to the exuberant aspect of life that is expressed in the variety of artistic creation.
LYF is a container including multiple worlds, personalities, ways of thinking.
It has been defined as the ‘holy book of eyewear’, probably due to the research we do in this sector, to the selection of the brands we choose to collaborate with and to tell about.
Those who wear a certain kind of glasses, have a specific taste and culture that are reflected in the way they dress, in which they furnish their homes, in their lifestyle. They love art, photography, they are curious, always
looking for something that broadens their horizons, that satisfies their aesthetic sense, their way of life. Of course those are LYF’s typical readers.”
Taken from an interview with Cristina Frasca