A SOUTHWOLD opticians has been personally recognised by a world class fashion queen after making a spectacle of her designer frames.Rene Moor and Jacqui Asker of Observatory the Opticians, which is based in Southwold and Beccles, have enjoyed a celebratory lunch with Lulu Guinness at the Ritz in London after reaching record sales of her range.

A SOUTHWOLD opticians has been personally recognised by a world class fashion queen after making a spectacle of her designer frames.

Rene Moor and Jacqui Asker of Observatory the Opticians, which is based in Southwold and Beccles, have enjoyed a celebratory lunch with Lulu Guinness at the Ritz in London after reaching record sales of her range.

Ms Guinness' colourful eyewear is sold across the capital and have become a must have accessory for the rich and famous.

However it is the two Waveney practices where the designs have proved most popular, outperforming the large London stores.

So impressed by the achievement Ms Guinness invited Mr Moor, the manager and optical dispenser Ms Asker to dine with her at the famous venue.

She told The Journal: 'What is so obvious to me is the passion that Rene, Jacqui and everyone at Observatory have for their work, and their customers. That is what I wanted to reward. The fact that my designs are liked is a bonus.'

Ms Guinness launched her career in 1989 with a range of high fashion handbags, which fast became a must have accessory on both sides of the Atlantic.

She soon branched out across the fashion industry, launching ranges in footwear, eyewear, clothes, linen and perfume, to name but a few.

Her designs are sold in the world's leading fashion houses including Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols and she has stores dotted around the globe including those in London, Paris and New York.

Keira Knightley , Helena Bonham Carter, Jemima Khan and Claudia Schiffer are just a handful of celebrity clients of Ms Guinness, who was awarded an OBE from the Queen in 2006 for her contribution to British fashion.

Mr Moor said: 'It was a fabulous experience to have lunch at the Ritz with Lulu Guinness who is a legend in the fashion industry. However, more important to me is the fact our practices in Southwold and Beccles have outperformed the big London stores and have been recognised in this way, which is an endorsement of our professional and customer focused approach. We are all very proud of this achievement.'

In the past two years Observatory has seen a 65pc sales increase of Lulu Guinness products.