Long gone are the days when the function of a pair of eyewear was to help you see better or shield your eyes from the harsh sunlight. Today’s spectacles and sunglasses have come onto their own as a fashion must-have, thanks to a multitude of brands releasing a dizzying array of eye-catching designs that beautify your peepers and transform the way you look in an instant.
But eyewear is more than just a piece of acetate you perch on your nose. And changing how you look at the accessory are Truth&All and Two Of A Kind—two labels that are disrupting the industry’s status quo with their unconventional approaches. From tackling issues such as sustainability to disrupting the traditional retail model, get acquainted with these two game-changers that have made non-conformity an integral part of their vision.
TRUTH&ALL
If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then you’ll want to frame them in eyewear with a “look good, do good, and feel good” slant. Look no further than Truth&All, a newly conceived label that produces eyewear through eco-conscious means. The label was founded by entrepreneurs Gemma Vincent and David Hearn after they witnessed the extent of plastic pollution during a trip to Malaysia. Spurred by common desire to spread the message of mindful consumerism, they spent nine months fine-tuning every aspect of the label and launched Truth&All.
The duo enlisted the know-how of Mazzuchelli, an Italian company that specialises in creating a form of acetate that is eco-friendly and biodegradable. “Water, chemicals, oil, pesticides and waste produced from the manufacture of fashion have a huge environmental impact. By hand-making our eyewear using bio-based acetate we dramatically reduce this, so you can look good and feel good about your choice,” Vincent explained in a release. The material is then handed over to a family-run business in Greece that “supports fair wages and working conditions.” There, craftsmen carefully construct each pair of eyewear using 48 different steps.
To take things even further, Truth&All has also introduced a giveback initiative—the label plans to invest 15% of its profits to support worthy causes and sustainable practices. “Truth&All has meaning, and our products have heart, which is a much stronger fashion statement for people than any existing logo in market” Hearn said.
TWO OF A KIND
With a carefully curated Instagram page filled with bright millennial pinks and gorgeous flat-lays; plus cool packaging that’d appeal to a new generation of consumers, Two Of A Kind (TWOOAK) is one label that does things differently. The brainchild of childhood friends Javad Namazie and Darryn Tan, TWOOAK is Singapore’s first direct-to-consumer contact lens brand that also offers a unique subscription service.
The idea to start TWOOAK came to the duo after they realised they were paying much more than they should for their supply of contact lenses—this was despite the fact that technological advancements have allowed for the lenses to be manufactured at a cheaper price. Buoyed by this discovery, Namazie and Tan then spent two years researching contact lenses, test-driving different products and speaking with experts from the field. Basis, a type of lens manufactured in Taiwan that fulfils all the stringent criteria put in place by the Singapore Health Sciences Authority, is the fruit of their labour.
As a result of their efforts, TWOOAK has managed to bypass the traditional retail model altogether, allowing the label to pass along the savings to its customers. A brand of the digital age through and through, TWOOAK sells its lenses via its online store and offers a delivery service that sends the products right to your doorstep. However, new customers are required to book an appointment with TWOOAK’s in-house optometrist for an eye examination before they are allowed to sign up for their service.
