(RE)MADE: A REBELLION AGAINST OBSOLESCENCE

Discovering the scale of the waste issue within the eyewear industry ignited our passion for doing things differently. Over the years, we’ve been fine-tuning everything, from our materials and supply chain to our business practices.

We are constantly working to define our sustainability mission and find ways to make a positive impact in our community. Earlier this year, we began to build a framework around this with our commitment to circularity being explored in several ways.

The launch of our Mycelium packaging removed reliance on a failing waste system and took the lead from nature's best, our Repair Cart helped us start important conversations and has provided key insights which we’re currently using to flesh out our Repairs Programme, championing tinted lenses has offered a fun new way to refresh your existing frames, prolonging their lifespan, and our material research project with CSM pushed us to think creatively about bio acetate’s potential.

Each of these projects has asked our community to reconsider how things are to prioritise positive social & environmental choices.

Now, we want to introduce you to our most recent project, (RE)MADE - an experimental micro collection of one-of-a-kind designs, each made entirely of ‘waste’.

Read on to hear from Alice, MONC designer and head of repairs who has been spearheading this project.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF (RE)MADE?

To me, the (RE)MADE collection is a call to action for our industry, it is searching for creative solutions to the issue of breakage and waste, but above that it is an invitation for all of us to rethink our relationship with our belongings. A pair of glasses is often a very precious thing to its wearer; they are an investment in a person's eye health, style and identity. For around half our population it is an object we use daily and yet, when they break, they become waste.

This is the story for an estimated 1.5 billion frames each year.

We are encouraged to replace an eyewear frame every 2-3 years; but if kept with care, bio acetate can last 100+ years. This means we’re using the material for under 5% of its potential lifespan.

This project set out to explore the moment when something valuable becomes obsolete and ask the question, can we reinstate that value through reusing that object's materials?

HOW DID WE DO IT?

Over the course of a couple of days, I pieced together our collection of damaged frames into 4 or 5 possible designs, playing with how the shapes of each frame interacted with one another to create new possibilities.

After selecting the parts of each frame I wanted to use, I cut them apart and prepared the joining surfaces. This involved a lot of matching angles and ensuring the new shapes followed nicely.

By midweek I had 5 puzzled-together frame fronts and a pretty solid vision for what each would become. Then came lamination, this process involves softening the prepared surfaces with acetone and bonding them together. If the lamination is successful the two pieces will melt into one another and become one seamless piece.

After allowing the material to set & harden over 12-24 hrs, I smoothed the frames final surfaces and ensured each connection point lined up correctly. It is at this point I could see if the laminations were successful and repeat the process if necessary.

Some of the frames required the addition of riveted metal components, these were added along with any new lens grooves required and then I was onto the final stage… polishing. This step revealed the true character of each frame and tested the strength of their final shape.

CAN YOU INTRODUCE US TO THE COLLECTION?

As a designer and lover of objects, I find the narrative around these pieces so wonderful. Each design is only the way it is because of the one that has gone before, they’re characters and histories combine to form something brand new.

The Scholar

With its round Løkka lens surrounds and riveted metal Monti nose bridge, this design holds a creative personality. The addition of Champagne Kallio temples reflects its new lightweight feel. Meanwhile, the exposed metal cores and Dark Havana temple tips add a finishing touch, matching perfectly with its characterful frame front.

The Twins

Crafted from a pair of matching Leith sunglasses, a mirrored frontage transforms two temple lugs into a nose bridge that appears riveted. The leftover hinge plates on the inside of the newly formed nose bridge hold a story of what once was and provide a slim nose fitting.

The Stack

The loudest of the bunch, this design retains the bold and confident character of the MONC x Monocle Chiltern, while gaining a whole new layer of personality from its thick yet subtly cat-eye Príncipe brow line and double lug feature.

The Segment

Peculiar and cohesive all at once, this design pieces together three pairs of broken Kallio spectacles with varying monochromatic bio acetate, including an eye-catching White Tortoise Havana.

WHAT WERE THE FINDINGS FROM THIS PROJECT?

It is fair to say, this blog is quite a slimed down recount of the making process. It had its challenges from a hand-making point of view, and at times, tested my knowledge of material and frame anatomy… But it is for this very reason that projects like these represent such value for both MONC & our industry.

(RE)MADE allowed us to ask questions and reconsider what we already know.

If we are to do things differently, then we have to be open to learning new things. This means allowing ourselves to play, fail and try again with openness to experiment and courage to continue approaching our creative roles with curiosity rather than assumption.

By getting closer to our products I was able to learn more about our material’s potential and identify some potential issues in our manufacturing that we have since fed back to our makers in Italy.

We can’t wait to continue sharing projects like these and developing our insights into products, services, and experiences that make a positive impact in our industry.