Izipizi Teams With Engineered Garments for Fashion-forward Frames
Izipizi has its eyes on the prize.
On Friday, the Paris-based eyewear label will release its latest collection, featuring ultra-round retro and modern reading glasses with a camouflage finish alongside circular sunglasses available in camouflage or khaki leopard designs.
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“From Paris to New York, this exclusive collaboration, crafted for urban life, embodies the urban spirit and invites an immersive journey through the diversity and energy of these iconic cities,” Charles Brun, cofounder of Izipizi, told WWD, explaining that the pieces strike a delicate balance between trendy and timeless, combining “simplicity, originality and boldness.”
When crafting the frames, Brun continued, the team was “adamant” about keeping them affordable; as such, readers are sold at $50 and sunglasses at $60. They will be available for purchase online, in stores and at select retailers globally.
This collection was created in partnership with Engineered Garments, a clothing brand established in 1999 by Japanese designer Daiki Suzuki. Known for its “timeless designs” and “meticulous detailing,” Engineered Garments played a vital role in bringing the “sophisticated collection” to life.
“Years ago, I saw a stylish pair of reading glasses — for the first time — in the famous Parisian store Colette. With age, reading glasses became a necessity for work, but finding a good pair remained a real challenge,” Suzuki said. “Izipizi reading glasses had a simple design that could also be turned into sunglasses, surprising me with their details and lightness.”
For this collaboration, a new, unique pattern was made for Engineered Garments, incorporating the “fundamental” color of the New York-based brand: a custom leopard pattern based on olive green. To reflect the military elements “inherent” in its designs, the readers also feature a custom tortoise camouflage pattern using Engineered Garments’ base colors of khaki, brown, black and olive.
Environmental Impact
Balancing trends with ethics, Izipizi considers sustainability throughout every step of the design process.
This began in 2020 when the label started measuring its carbon footprint in hopes of better understanding its environmental impact. Based on that data, Izipizi set the goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 50 percent per pair of glasses within five years — a goal that, per Brun, the brand remains “steadfast” in achieving. In fact, the brand has managed to reduce the carbon footprint of its glasses by 47 percent in just four years, according to data from Izipizi’s 2023 CRS Report.
Two years later, Izipizi established the objective to incorporate bio-sourced materials — namely plant-based — into 30 percent of its production. By June, the brand debuted a “novel material” consisting of 45 percent castor oil, marking a shift away from fossil fuels.
However, Izipizi’s crowning achievement came in July 2023 when it achieved B-Corp status, a certification awarded to businesses that meet “high standards” of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
Being one of the 300 French companies with B-Corp certification, Brun emphasized that this achievement reflects the company’s dedicated efforts to ensure its actions are beneficial to the planet and its inhabitants. And though being granted certification took “several months of discussion, complete transparency and the validation of numerous criteria,” the process was “all worth it,” Brun said.
“At Izipizi, considering sustainability in every product we develop and sell has become second nature,” he continued. “While we have already made substantial strides, we are fully committed to working toward a more responsible future.”
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