A start-up in Tunisia has become the the first in the country to produce wooden glasses, and is now exporting its frames around the world.
The company, Vakay, is capitalizing on the growing trend for wooden frames, and could be a rare success story in a country plagued by unemployment, inflation and a deteriorating economy.
Vakay means “And the tree” in Vietnamese and was decided to clearly state the trademark of the brand.
The company uses five kinds of wood for its glasses: Beech for the structure inside, because it’s easy to shape and solid; This is used for all the frames. Then there are four options for the exterior layers: Wenge, Padauk, Bubinga, and Walnut.
A laser machine then cuts the general shape of the frame into a universal form that works for any of the Vakay models.
Workers then glue together the different plates of wood – three Beech layers inside, and two African wood ones outside – and put them in a mould to give the necessary curve to the glasses.
Sunglasses made of wood are a fashion trend that has appeared in recent years.
The start-up currently makes up to 400 pairs of glasses a month. Thanks to a new space where it will soon be moving to, it intends to increase production to reach more than 1,000 pairs. Already exporting in five countries across the world, along with punctual sales in Los Angeles, London and Geneva, the company hopes to start exporting to the Emirates, Germany, Spain, Slovakia and Hungary before 2017.
