Childe has joined forces with local Byron shire company Sunglass Fix to disrupt the sunglass industry and reverse corporate obsolescence and fast fashion. Craig Anderson of Sunglass Fix and Jon Laurenson of Childe Eyewear are two Byron Shire based entrepreneurs tipping the Sunglass industry on its head with their sustainable precision eyewear solutions made to last. 

The premise and objective of the Childe X Sunglass Fix collaboration is to provide our loyal Childe customers the option and ability to replace scratched or damaged lenses at any time so their sunglasses can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Together, for you, we created Childe for Life

Our Childe eco-sensitive eyewear frames are built to last, but as you know sometimes lenses can be scratched by the usual wear and tear of living your best life  - cleaning with a salty sandy tee shirt, having them float around your hand bag, car or tool box without the case or by simply dropping your sunglasses.
We totally understand these things happen but it shouldn't be the end of your favourite pair of shades.

Enter the Sunglass Fix who provide a sustainable lens replacement option for the long term enjoyment of your favourite pair of Childe sunglasses. In fact the amazing Sunglass Fix business offers the ability to replace lenses for almost all brands but its just us at Childe that offer it free for our customers for the first 12 months to provide a more sustainable eyewear experience. 

The brand wins as our premium eyewear products are used and appreciated to their absolute full capability to provide ultimate customer satisfaction.

The following is how it all came together for Craig and the Sunglass Fix and therefore enabled Childe to partner and create the Childe for Life warranty lens repalcement.

Sunglass fix founder Craig Anderson has always been a fan of fixing things and a fan of saving money. So developing a business like Sunglass Fix that ticks both those boxes for customers was a must. “I’ve always been massive into repairing stuff. I just like troubleshooting. And I like fixing things. Initially I just did it because it was cheap. I fixed a thousand dollar washing machine with a $5 fuse. When you can do that sort of thing, it’s easy to see the benefits that you get and the savings. So, it made sense to me that if you can come up with something like that and make it easy for a lot of people around the world to fix something it would be a profitable business.”

A lot of us are aware that things just aren’t made like they were in the ‘good old days’. Those of us at a certain age will remember the trusted washing machine that just went and went, for decades. Or our first stereo that’s still kicking-on in our garage somewhere. Whether it’s electrical items that die shortly after their extended warranty, items whose hinges fall apart or fuses that blow, business is now designed around built-in breaking points. This little trick is called corporate obsolescence and it’s one of the ways businesses get us to keep on spending with them, upgrading and replacing. 

In fact one of the first things that had big time and money invested into creating an inferior product (designed not to last) was the light bulb. Over 10 years of research was invested into making a filament that would only last a year as opposed to some of the original light bulbs which have lasted over 100. Even the nylon stockings we wear have been designed to run and tear.  The original nylon panty hoses were strong enough to tow a car, not so anymore. We’re also in a time where getting things fixed is inhibitively expensive or just outright impossible. Some of this trend is by deliberate design, such as installing 30 cent fuses in thousand dollar electrical items designed to die after a certain period and render the whole item useless. Some has happened due to the outsourcing of labour to less regulated countries, using inferior materials and construction processes. However, if you consider it, it's leading to a design situation that’s forcing us to become a throwaway society, because it's cheaper to get something brand new than it is to repair.  When Craig was researching and establishing the premise for Sunglass Fix he began calculating how many sunglasses people were throwing away due to scratched lenses. “I estimated that Australia alone fills the MCG every year with the glasses that they throw away”.  That’s tons of plastic or nylon going into landfill and unable to breakdown.  

Sunglass Fix wanted to make sure that their product would not only nullify the need to replace people’s favourite sunglasses but that their lenses would be the best, most durable quality so that they would last even longer than the original lenses. Using optically superb Polyamide or Polycarbonate material, Sunglass Fix lenses are coated to give glass like optical clarity and their SFx lenses are not only 60% lighter than glass they are also much stronger, meaning they last longer. The SFx Polycarbonate lenses are made from the same primary material used in bulletproof glass and safety goggles making the lenses virtually shatter proof. And all lenses have undergone industry standard steel wool abrasion testing and rank between 600-800% higher than competitors, that retail for well over $200 in the shops. This commitment to quality and an ethos of repair versus replacement caught the eye of fellow Byron Shire business owner Jon Laurenson.

Childe Eyewear was founded in 2018 to address the issue of corporate obsolesence and unsustainable production and material use in the Sunglass industry.  Jon Laurenson has had a long career working with big name Sunglass brands Arnette, Bausch and Lomb and was also a co founder of Electric Visual.

In a fashion industry that rewards over consumption from season to season and is built on a backbone of unsustainable manufacturing processes this felt out of step with Jon’s love of the ocean and nature. Childe is an eyewear fashion label that is committed to both the environment and style. “A lot of the kids that I've worked with in the business in the last two years, they really are looking for something that can last. And if it doesn't last, they do try to fix it.” says Jon.

Using the best quality bio-acetate available on the market coupled with precision hinges, both of which are sourced in Italy, these sunglasses are built to last. They are also designed to be fixable and come with a lifetime guarantee. 

Childe is proud to partner with Sunglass Fix and have joined forces to stop unnecessary throw aways, saying NO to a culture of disposable fashion. You can learn more about the Childe for Life warranty here and follow the innovative @mysunglassfix