TOMS founder and Chief Shoe Giver Blake Mycoskie visited Biola in April to announce an upcoming mystery product, which was revealed June 7 as a new line of eyewear. |Job Ang/THE CHIMES
Until recently TOMS’ One for One initiative has been focused on giving shoes to needy children across the world, but on Tuesday, June 7, CEO and chief shoe giver, Blake Mycoskie announced the company is expanding their logo and initiative to eyewear.
On Tuesday, TOMS consistently updated their Twitter account, teasing to their announcement which came out around 11 a.m. The charitable label held an event in Los Angeles to promote their new TOMS eyewear line and Mycoskie held a livestream Q-and-A on the TOMS Facebook page to answer any questions people had.
Inspiration for the new eyewear line came when Mycoskie traveled to different developing countries and saw the need for eye care. Each purchase of TOMS eyewear will help provide for eye care for one person in a developing country by either paying for medical treatment, glasses or sight-saving surgery. TOMS website states that the new initiative will begin first in Nepal, Cambodia and Tibet.
The sunglasses tell a story in and of themselves. According to the TOMS website, the hand-painted stripes on the glasses symbolize the three elements of One for One. The first stripe on the temple symbolizes the buyer of the sunglasses, the stripe on the tip represents the person who will receive eye care and the middle stripe represents TOMS bringing the two together.
The TOMS eyewear line has many options for both men and women and can be bought for around $145. On the TOMS website there are several tabs for customers to browse through pictures of the frames and there is even a virtual try-on option for people who want to see what the glasses would look like on an actual person.
“See. Change.” is the new mantra driving the One for One eyewear line and a statement made on the TOMS Facebook page sums up TOMS new approach perfectly, “TOMS is no longer just a shoe company. TOMS is the One for One company.”
