WONKA
Tom Davies has joined forces once again with Warner Bros. Discovery to design frames for the motion picture Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role. For Wonka, Davies was asked to create two bespoke frames – one for the character Fickelgruber, played by Mathew Baynton, and the second for Abacus Crunch, played by Jim Carter. For Fickelgruber, the character wears a lot of green and is Wonka’s nemesis. The frame Tom designed has a classic period appropriate shape which would have been at the height of fashion at the time. Only successful dapper people would be able to afford such a frame at that time. Davies also added a green tint to the lens to imply a slightly mysterious around the character.
For Abacus, the character wears glasses from 50 years previous. As he is down on his luck throughout the film, he could not really afford new glasses so the frame design was quite specific. It needed to sit at the end of his nose and also function for Jim Carter to use during filming. When making frames for films, the costume department need 5 pairs and it would be almost impossible to source something so vintage for an actor which also fits them perfectly. Bespoke was the only option and actually, this is the frame Davies was originally called in to make for the studio.
To celebrate the release of Warner Bros. Pictures' big screen spectacle, Wonka, and inspired by Wonka himself, Tom also worked with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to design a collection of seven Wonka-inspired Catch London frames. Each frame has a unique or exotic feature in keeping with both the film itself and Davies’ own reputation for weird and wonderful creativity: some smell like giraffe milk, others glow in the dark, while others change colour the moment the wearer steps outside.
Tom Davies was so excited when Warner Bros. Discovery asked him to get involved in this project, as growing up, he loved Roald Dahl's stories and always dreamed of running his own factory in London which is now in fruition.