I’ve spent the last 15 years in and out of factories, and I never tire of seeing how things are made. From time to time, I visit somewhere new simply to learn and better understand the supply chain we have here in the north of Portugal. Eyewear wasn’t something we were looking to pursue, but a visit to one factory gave us a reason to.

Inside, glasses were still being shaped on old molds using mechanical machinery, guided by people who had clearly spent years learning their craft. There was a sense of familiarity between the people, their tools and the work in front of them.

What stood out most was the attention at each stage. A frame would be picked up, inspected, worked on and checked again. That would happen several times before finally being passed along. Every factory has an output to meet, but nobody seemed to be rushing through the day. This place felt closer to an atelier, with a connection between the people and the product you could feel as you walked through. I arrived curious and left wanting to find a way to work together.

We began with two molds from the factory’s archives, which dates back to the late 1960s. Working together, we made subtle adjustments to their proportions and details, developing what became our Sport and Classic frames. 

It’s been a pleasure to develop these frames with a team whose knowledge has guided the project from the beginning. We’re grateful for their patience, their care and their willingness to open their doors to us.

With these videos we wanted to invite you inside those doors to catch a glimpse of the process and see the work behind the frames. I hope they give you a bit of the feeling I had on that first visit, and a sense of why we wanted to make something together.

— Andrew