Hooks and eyes, buckles and eyelets

Hooks and eyes, eyelets and buckles: a world of small metal fittings for which Lozio^® stands out from the rest.

There is a whole collateral world around the button, made from precious accessories in metal, plastic or coated, which complete the range of items and product proposals from Lozio^®. This is a wide-ranging area and one in which Lozio^® stands out on account of its consultancy role when it comes to custom-made items.

There are hundreds of models of buckles for belts and other items, eyelets in all their many different formats and hooks and eyes, which always serve when it comes to classical fashion. Each of these single, precious accessories has a tradition in the history of fashion and costume.

There most ancient are the buckles that from the earliest times were used to hold together the two parts of a piece of material; eyelets too in their primitive version were no more than holes, reinforced at the sides, into which a cord would be threaded to tighten an item of clothing at the waist. Much more recent but no less important was the introduction of hooks and eyes.

Eyelets

Eyelets are usually metal parts used both on leather items and fabrics to create reinforced holes. Eyelets can either be round or oval and they mainly serve three purposes in a piece of clothing. There are small eyelets starting at a diameter of 3 mm, which serve for threading a fine cord, a drawstring to tighten the waist of a jacket, a pair of leisure trousers, etc… There are much larger eyelets, even as big as 70 mm, that can be positioned in different points on a jacket or coat as air vents (under the arms, for example); then there are eyelets that are mainly used on women’s clothing items and in this case, their function is mostly decorative.

Eyelets of identical and various size are used together with others to create designs such as flowers and hearts and other decorative motifs. This type of use for eyelets is mainly found on jackets, shirts and jeans. Eyelets are applied using eyeleting machines supplied by Lozio^®, which can be semiautomatic or fully automatic; for smaller quantities, eyelets can be applied using a manual press.

Applying eyelets is a quick and easy process. The application stages are making the hole and fitting the eyelet. The base of the eyelet is usually in brass but, using nickel-free galvanic dips, they can be plated with other metals to give them more golden or burnished colours.

Lozio^® is able to assist customers in the creation and application of any type of eyelet.

One, one hundred, one thousand buckles

When we say buckle, we mean a whole world that on its own is a complete production sector in the garment world, and part of men’s and women’s fashion accessories. Buckles have always been - almost on a par with buttons – one of the details that make a difference. Sometimes, mediocre belts can be improved with a beautiful buckle. It is an extremely varied and fascinating area because buckles are a very powerful point of visual attraction in the garment economy.

Often belts are positioned at waist height, i.e., practically in the centre of the body and therefore, in one of the most prominent points.

How many belt types, sizes and characteristics are there?

As many as there are designers and fashion creators. Round buckles, square buckles, rectangular buckles, oval buckles, buckles in the shape of initials, and buckles in metal, plastic, covered buckles … The list of buckle types seems to be endless. Lozio^® on its own, has a few hundred models of buckle and that is just for cover buckles. In this sector too, Lozio^® can boast a great deal of experience, which places it among the companies most in demand when it comes to supplying consultancy services and custom made models.

Hooks and eyes

Hooks and eyes are responsible for the invention of the zipper which, in its primitive version from the mid 1800s, was no more than a series of hooks and eyes placed together vertically, one over another, and kept together by a cord. Even today, hooks and eyes play an important role in elegant garments.

Classical trousers cannot be without concealed hooks and eyes. In this case, too, the small metal parts are what make the difference. An expert hand examining the workmanship of a pair of classical and elegant trousers will first and foremost look for the hook and eye fastenings and also at the quality of the fastenings themselves. Hooks and eyes are so small and hidden, but also so very important, that prominent tailors and fashion designers love to customise them, put their mark on them and to use hooks and eyes with their own recognisable brands, logos and symbols.

A classy pair of trousers cannot be without hooks and eyes, which in this case set the style of the workmanship just as much as the chosen fabric and perhaps even more so. Hooks and eyes were first used for aesthetic reasons combined with practicality. Even an elegant man can feel bloated after a heavy lunch. In this case, the common button fastening can be too tight and uncomfortable; hooks and eyes, however, have a better hold on account of their shape and structure, and since they are hidden on the inside of the trousers, they guarantee a perfect look.

Lozio ^®’s hooks and eyes are for elegant trousers and can also be customised with engraved or relief designs. They are formed by four parts: hook or male and support; eye or female, and support.

The materials used to make hooks and eyes are brass and iron. However, even if elegant trousers are not machine washed but mainly washed by hand, it may occur that iron releases a small rust stain with time, so if the garment is an important one, it should only be made using brass hooks and eyes.

“Nickel free” galvanic dips mean that hooks and eyes can also be plated with other metals to give them a gold, bronze, copper colour, etc. Lozio^® has been supplying the international haute couture industry with its hooks and eyes for many years.

Lozio^® is able to satisfy any requirement for hooks and eyes and also sells pneumatic presses for their safe and easy application.

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