Cubitts x WAWWA | A Sunshine Filter
So. We've made sunglasses.
That still feels like a strange sentence to type, given we spend most of our time at the Mill surrounded by fabric, thread and the sound of Howard fixing something. But here we are.
This one's a collaboration with Cubitts, the spectacle-makers who opened up on Hilton Street earlier this month, about a three minute walk from our shop. Which is really the whole reason this conversation started. Two brands making things properly in the UK, on the same street, more or less. It would have been a bit rude not to
What we've ended up with is one frame, in two combinations: Coconut with yellow lenses and Khaki with grey lenses, plus a wearable case we make ourselves. A small run, made once. Frames made at The Yard, Cubitts' workshop in London, cases made by us at Phoenix Mill, our own factory in Manchester.
It started with a pair of old Nighthawks
We came across a pair of vintage Nighthawk glasses and couldn't stop thinking about them.
The yellow lens on them isn't there to darken your view. It's there to brighten it. They were originally made for driving at night, filtering out blue light and cutting glare so you could actually see. Rather than dimming everything down, they lift it all up a bit.
Which, for us living in Manchester, felt almost too on the nose to ignore. It's grey here for most of the year (this summer's been a lovely exception, but we all know it won't last) and with winter creeping up again, we loved the idea of people carrying around a little sunshine filter in their pocket.
We've made a dark lens too, because we're not completely daft and we know that's the one most people will go for. But the yellow is the one that started all this, and it's the one we're quietly obsessed with.
Something anyone can wear
Same thinking as our clothes, really. We wanted something super wearable, nothing you'd have to be brave to put on. Just a good, unisex frame that slots into whatever you already own.
We went with two acetates, a coconut brown and a khaki green. Picking those was one of the best bits of the whole project. Cubitts have a library of over 300 acetates, and when they sent a load over for us to choose from it felt a bit like being handed the good box of pencils at school.
A bit of DIY
We wanted something hands-on in there somewhere, so there are small hole details at the ends of the arms and a paracord neck strap that you attach yourself.
It arrives as a separate little job for you to do. Takes two minutes, but it means you've had a hand in the process.
The Case
For the case we adapted one of our existing styles and took our direction from the Sacoche. Its simplicity felt right for something you're going to carry around every day, and it uses the same paracord knot as the neck strap, which ties the whole thing together rather neatly (sorry).
We also spent a while looking at vintage stationery for this one. Penco pencil cases, the Nahe General Purpose Case by Hightide. That everyday, unfussy, slightly utilitarian thing. Something that's clearly got a job to do.
Solaris, obviously
Solaris is one of our best-selling graphics, and for a project entirely about light it wasn't much of a debate. You'll find it on the packaging and the cleaning cloths.
We had no idea what we were doing
We'd never made glasses before and had absolutely no clue what the design process would even look like. Which, to be fair, is roughly how we started the whole brand, so at least it's consistent.
The first prototypes came back as black 3D prints. We didn't know they had to be made that way first, so when they landed we did panic slightly. They leaned hard into geek chic. Somewhere in the region of the 3D glasses you get at the Odeon.
But that's exactly what they're for. Once the penny dropped, we realised that's how you properly edit them: take a photo, tweak the shape, send it back, go again. We got very picky about it. The angle of the frames, the flatness across the top, making sure it sat right on the face and didn't interrupt the eyebrow.
That back and forth is basically what this collaboration was. Two workshops, a lot of photographs of slightly wrong prototypes, and a group of people who care an unreasonable amount about millimetres.
A small run, made in two UK workshops
We've made a small run, split evenly across the colours: coconut brown with a yellow lens and khaki with a smoke grey lens.
Frames made in London, cases made in Manchester, all of it by people whose names we know.
Cubitts x WAWWA lands 21st August. A small run, made once, available at our pop up shop on Tib Street, at Cubitts in the Northern Quarter, and online - here.
If you'd rather have them with a prescription, Cubitts can sort that too.