His meticulousness is reminiscent of that of his most famous client. Bernard Hemery, from Toulon, has been an optician for around thirty years. In his Mourillon store, located at 14 rue Lamalgue, he leaves nothing to chance. “I don’t like it when it’s not tidy and aligned. It’s stronger than me”, he whispers, replacing a few pairs of glasses on a shelf. There, the manager offers between 800 and 900 frames, for small and large wallets.
Towards the entrance to the store, one of the models stands out a little from the crowd. Not for its color. Nor for an ostentatious side. But simply because during this Rugby World Cup period, we tend to see him passing by a lot. In training, in the stands or in front of the press, the coach of the French team, Fabien Galthié, never appears without his big black glasses. And even though he has been wearing them for more than three years, they continue to be the subject of comments.
Those binoculars “zarbis”, says actor Fabrice Luchini, have somewhat become the signature of the meticulous boss of the Blues. And a source of pride for Bernard Hemery, who sold them to him. “He came to the store for the first time in 2018. He was training the RCT at the time and knew one of my colleagues well”, recalls the optician. This time, the former international player is content to buy visual equipment.
But two years later, in August 2020, and when he took the reins of the XV of France, Galthié returned to the Mourillon boutique. “He was in Paris. However, he trusted us again. It touched me a lot and I thank him for it”says Bernard Hemery in a calm tone.
“He wears them very well”
Today, it is difficult not to imagine the coach of the French XV without this imposing pair of glasses. (Photo DR/ Olivier Lejeune).
Galthié is a great sportsman. However, during the different games he plays, his glasses rarely hold up. After breaking a few, “he wanted a relatively solid pair, which could go with his correction and hold up during his sports activities, since beyond rugby, he plays other sports such as golf or squash”.
The manager of Optique Lamalgue then directed him towards the Demetz brand. “It comes from a family business that offers relatively comfortable sports glassesreprend Bernard Hemery. I recommended the Ros 21 model to him, which met the expected qualities. Thanks to their curved shape, these glasses offer the advantage of peripheral vision, with excellent support on the face, so that they cannot become destabilized too easily.”
The Demetz catch the technician’s eye. He purchased it and still wears the same frame today. If the optician first mentions a price of 250 euros, he now claims to sell the frame for 135 euros.
In any case, the imposing pair has become almost inseparable from Galthié’s face. On its Instagram account, the Var establishment has already used – with its agreement – the image of the coach: “He wears them very well. They give him a personality.”
On the Lamalgue side, sales of the model have not really exploded. But customers are becoming more and more curious. “Many talk to us about Fabien Galthié. They ask us to look at the glasses. We always have them in store”concludes Bernard Hemery, with laughing eyes.
Bernard Hemery has worked on rue Lamalgue since 1989. Photo Camille Dodet.
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