Shwood Eyewear
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Eyewear |
| Founded | Portland, Oregon, United States (2009) |
| Founder | Ryan Kirkpatrick, Eric Singer, Daniel Genco, Taylor Murray, Philip Peterson |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Sun and Rx Eyewear |
| Website | shwoodshop |
Shwood Eyewear is an American brand of sunglasses and eyeglasses, it was founded in 2009, and is based in Portland, Oregon.
History
 | This section needs to be updated. (February 2023) |
The prototype wooden glasses was developed in 2005 by Eric Singer, the idea was then shared with Ryan Kirkpatrick, Daniel Genco, Taylor Murray and Philip Peterson. The prototype was made using madrone tree, a pair of rusty cabinet hinges and salvaged lenses from a thrift store. Singer wore them to a skatepark and immediately got his first orders at $20 a frame.[1][2]
The name Shwood comes from the name of a fake sponsor created by a friend of Singer to be able to enter a snowboarding competition.[2]
Shwood Eyewear formally launched in 2009. A few days after launch, a blogger revealed Shwood and orders instantly started to flow in.Shwood began its operations in a 7 x 15-ft. workspace, as soon as expansion became feasible they moved to a 30 x 50-ft. shop space. In 2010, they further expanded and moved to 6,000 square-foot facility in Portland.[2] By 2011, it was making 125 frames a day, and distributed to 80 retail stores.[1] By 2013, it was making 300 frames a day.[2]
In 2015, it introduced a frame cover material (veneer) made entirely of old newspapers.[3] In 2016, it introduced frames made with feathers and flowers, and announced experimenting with many different materials to create new frames.[4]
The product line consists of sunglasses and prescription eyeglasses. The frames are made out of wood,[5][6] stone,[7] acetate, titanium and brass.
References
- ^ a b Young, Molly (7 November 2011), "Startup: Shwood, a Beaverton wooden sunglasses company", oregonlive.com
- ^ a b c d Marshall, Chris (17 December 2013), "Shwood Eyewear: Keeping It Real, One Paira at A Time", woodworkersjournal.com
- ^ Noe, Rain (30 March 2015). "Shwood Turns Newspaper into Veneer". Core77. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Goulet, Matt (2016-03-08). "Your Next Pair of Sunglasses Will Have Feathers in Them". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- ^ Crucchiola, Jordan (10 August 2012), "Here's Where Hip, Handcrafted, Wooden Eyewear Comes From", wired.com
- ^ Oliva, di Selene (23 June 2014), "Wooden eyewear: a natural trend", vogue.it/en
- ^ Shin, Laura (27 June 2013), "Stone eyeglasses? Unusual materials get attention at Pitti Uomo", zdnet.com
