We exist in a world full of corporate greed and global monopolies, everywhere you look there are conglomerates that are cornering the market and setting prices, all it takes is a small amount of research to uncover what is really going on all around us. At the start of my blue rabbit project I found out almost immediately that the leading supplier of eyewear in the global market is a company called Luxottica. At 65 million pairs of glasses produced in one year, and ½ a billion people around the world wearing Luxottica products every day (Luxottica) you would think that this would be a household name; which lead me to ask the question “Why have I never heard of this company?” There is a simple answer, it is because Luxottica designs and produces sunglasses and optical frames for countless brands across the world. Brands such as Tiffany, Ray Ban, Chanel, Gucci, and even Sunglass Hut all are supplied and/or owned by Luxottica. (Beaumont)

This has a direct correlation to what you pay out of pocket when you break your trusty frames. Ten years ago glasses from a local frame maker/optician would cost about thirty dollars; now with the market cornered you are paying hundereds of dollars for frames with the same material cost as ever.  The have a stronghold on the market, affecting anyone in the optical field. If you make glasses you want them to be in their stores, and if you own a store you want their products in them so you can provide your customers with what they may want to buy. Oakley brand sunglasses had a dispute with Luxottica about pricing, resulting Lux. Brand not carrying Oakley sunglasses in any of their chains. This resulted in the stock value in Oakley dropping drastically, and finally Luxottica buying out the brand from under them when their company was weak. (Luxottica) Power like this will go unchecked until something can challenge what they offer.

You may ask “What did Luxottica do that made the price of your frames change?” They took a medical device and through marketing and branding changed the perception from “nerdy” to “sleek.” Since JFK, every U.S. president has sported a pair of Ray Bans, associating power and prosperity with a brand. Ray Bans made movie appearances in the 80’s, like the iconic look of Tom Cruise in Risky Business. At that time another risky business was Ray Ban itself, which were dipping in the market and appearing in stores for 30 dollars. This was the perfect way for Luxottica to swoop in and save the day, buying up the company in 1999 and taking Ray Bans off the shelves for a year. No need to fret, they were back on the market soon enough, at inflated prices but with branding improvement.  They make glasses cool. Andrea Guerra said in a 60 Minutes interview with Barbara Walters about glasses frames, “It is one of the only objects that are 100% functional, 100% aesthetic, and need to fit your face for 15 hours a day.” (Luxottica)With a product that means so much to people’s lives, both in functionality and style, should we really trust one conglomerate to take care of all our optical needs?

With the availability and convenience of three-D printing now the public is beginning to have a louder voice, and the people are chiming out with a resounding “NO!” New websites are popping up all over the internet which is allowing people who don’t have the funds to start their own entrepreneurial ventures by simply creating video proposals of their pitch and uploading them to the sites. Crowdfunding, crowd financing, micro loans, hyperfunding and more are all new ways to describe this budding niche market. Only asking for 5% of the profits collected, these websites function on providing a place for inventors everywhere to ask for startup help without selling off shares of their delicate new industry.(Rushin) “Financial backers, which are armchair philanthropists of projects, put their trust in the project creators by providing cash in return for a promise of a future return. The return can be naming credits as with a film, a discount price of the develop item, or some insignificant benefit. “

Companies that were once crowdfunded ideas are now flourishing, selling their products and making a name for themselves in industries that were once impossible to elbow into. New manufacturers such as Protos Eyewear began just a few years ago with an idea, and a Crowdfunding website link. The founders of Protos were once all students of California College of the Arts, and now all of them have found an intrinsic role in the company. With Marc Levinson overseeing the company as CEO and visionary leader, John Mauriello as the CAD expert and design office, and Doug Ponciano as programming guru behind the customizable software, these three musketeers have changed the way running a company is approached.(Jovan) Unlike the way that Luxottica produces and ships glasses styles to various brand names, these three men are right in the thick of their company, innovating and improving the company every step of the way.

In the world of capitalism, bigger is always better. Bigger companies, bigger factories, and bigger workforce always equals a bigger profit. This model although prevalent in every industry seems to be unfit in the realm of eyewear. This is a profit driven system, not value driven, and when you are trying to provide something as important as optical equipment, value should always triumph over profit. This is the rational of Fetch eyewear, another customizable glasses company that can be found on the internet. They see that luxury eyewear is becoming outdated, boasting that they can provide quality and sophistication in their eyewear but not delivering the product. More and more companies are offering customization, but one thing I have yet to find online is customization, and the power to create coming from the consumer. (Sachs)

This is where my project will step in, with the use of a three-D scanner, such as one you can buy online, like Digisize (which comes with the scanner and the software)(Digisize) or a free Application for your smart phone such as 123d catch I would like to bridge the gap from ordering customized glasses from a provider and creating them yourself. Whether scanning a pair of glasses your friend has and tweaking them to fit the shape of your face, or scanning your whole head and completely fabricating your glasses yourself I want to help put your glasses frames back into your own hands.

Works Cited

Anon. “Is Luxottica Taking Over the World of Eyewear?” Beaumont Vision. Beaumont Vision, 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.

“DigiSize.” DigiSize. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.

Jovan, Jeremy. “Feature: Protos Eyewear | Idea Issue | Asterisk San Francisco Magazine.” Feature: Protos Eyewear | Idea Issue | Asterisk San Francisco Magazine. At Risk San Francisco, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

Luxottica- Do You Know Who Makes Your Glasses? Perf. Barbara Walters. 2013. Youtube. Youtube. 60 Minutes, 26 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

Rushin, Gary. “Crowd Funding: Turnkey Financing Source for Entrepreneurs.” GaryRushincom RSS. Garyrushin.co,, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.

Sachs, Ann. “Why Buy Independent Optical | Fetch Eyewear.” Why Buy Independent Optical | Fetch Eyewear. Fetch Eyewear, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.