We love eyewear and sunwear. We really love creators of eyewear that upcycle or reuse materials that you would never in your lifetime think you can use to make eyeglasses. We put together some of favorite eyeglasses made from reclaimed materials that you will be surprised by.
1.) Who would have ever thought Motorcycle Parts could be made in eyeglasses? Procchiali Eyewear Studio is either nuts or a creative genius. Did you know in 2014m there were 483,526 motorcycles sold in the USA. How many of those motorcycles were thrashed or crashed and ended up in the junkyard?
2.) Handcuffs! You have to just love it. Book um Danno!
3.) From Airplanes; Did you know that 80% of an airplane is reusable? Thousands of airplanes are mothballed each year and Airborn Eyewear has just the ticket to reuse the parts to make eyewear.
4.) Hemp is one of the most Eco Friendly materials in the planet and has thousands of ways it can be used. Hemp Eyewear started a Kickstarter campaign to grow their Hemp Eyewear business. Another company Northwood has a mixture of both Hemp and Stone Eyewear.
5.) Some of us see twigs. Others like Micromega Ottica see eyewear. This earth friendly Twigged Frame is both eco friendly and eye catching.
6.) Horn from Buffalos is fairly common in the luxury eyewear sector. But Deer Antlers are very uncommon. Cerf Bois has a collection of horn eyewear, but we are liking the texture of the eyewear made with Deer Antlers.
7.) Not to waste any part of an animal check out this collection make with Deer Mandibles.
8.) This a first, made with Human Bone. To the best of my knowledge there was only one made.
9.) From Mammoth Tusks. There are several companies that reuse Mammoth Tusks in their eyewear. Linda Farrow had a small collection and Kees Wennekendonk in the Netherlands, Alexander Eyewear and Edward Gucewicz and Lindberg all have used Mammoth Tusks.
10.) Alpaca’s are the work horse of the Andes. Why not reuse their hair and imbed in a temple?
11.) Most people think stone is very heavy. Several companies have started to use stone in their collections. Noteably Shwood Stone Collection and Rolf Spectacles.
12.) We just had to mention Cement. Only one of each of these styles were made. Is this material eco- Friendly? Not if it is reused from older cement from deconstruction projects.
This cement piece was made for a collection, not wearable, but a fun work of art.
13.) Swine Studio created the Human Hair Glasses in 2011 and it was a Hair Raising Viral Experience. Collecting hair from Hair Salons, makes this a fashionable Trashion look.
14.) Unfortunately, the amount of sharks killed from Shark Finning is appalling. Reusing their jaws is one way to eliminate waste. A love of Sharks was probably the inspiration for this work of art. I couldn’t see wearing this.. but you never know.
15.) Most Cardboard is made of reused materials. These Cardboard Sunglasses by Papp UP are fun as well as recyclable.
16.) Italian Marble By Budri. In 2014, Budri launched their first ‘marbleized eyewear collection. Marble is a natural material that is found in many parts of the world.
17.) A great way to recycle your old LP’s is to either have an Eyewear Company such as Spex Wax reuse your favorite albums and make custom eyewear or go to Tipton Eyework and order your favorite look from their recycled Vinyl Collection.
18.) On the cutting edge, Scissors eyewear and or the look has been worn by celebrities such as Elton John and or made into art.
19.) At one time bamboo eyewear was seen as cutting edge. In today’s ‘Eco Friendly’ time, bamboo is becoming increasing more common. Unfortunately unless bamboo is sustainably harvested, it kills off Panda habitats.
20.) A perfect example of taking found objects is Bent Eyewear. These wired frames create some unusual looks by bending and twisting wires. Wire Artist Correy Wyatt has been making wire eyewear for 20 years, we would call him a real live wire.
21.) Skateboard Decks. There are only a handful of companies that are making eyewear from reclaimed Skateboards. Diamond Supply , EQO Optics , DeckSpecks, Proof Eyewear, Shwood, SK8Shades and Holloway to name a few. There are about 96 Million Skateboards sold in North America every year. The average Skater goes through 2 skateboards a year, which leaves about 45 Million broken Skateboards that can be reused.
22.) Coke Eyeglasses.This was a one off from a creative eyecare professional. We love it!
23.) Wood Eyewear made from abandoned Detroit Homes. Detroit has it’s challenged and there are tons of abandoned homes, which have materials that can be reused. Homes Eyewear has started a company in which they are reclaiming the wood to make eyewear.
There are other companies such as Modo that make eyewear from Recycled materials and offer a one for one program. Another company Victory Optical is just starting to make Sunwear in the USA. We are seeing a good trend, being able to combine an eco friendly fashionable look in your eyewear.