There's a new sunglass shop in town, and it's not like anything you've ever seen before. Behold: The Monocle Order. I asked Zoe Nightingale, CEO at Monocle Order, a few questions and she quite nicely obliged. Read on to find out how "hurricanes like us" now have an insurance policy against expensive sunnies! Bonus: sunglasses double as eye-protectors in this INSANE cold.
Zoe! Tell me about Monocle Order. It's such an interesting concept!
We launched The Monocle Order in June 2011. It started like
most companies, over many glasses of red wine. My co-founder, Alex, was
lamenting that he had lost his latest pair of 400
dollar designer sunglasses and suddenly it occurred to us that there should be
a company that provided an insurance policy for hurricanes like us, who destroy
everything in their wake. We wanted to come up with a way to reward true
sunglass aficionados as well as create a secret society to celebrate
wanton excessive love of eyewear. So, we found the best independent designers
from around the world, who create original designs using only the best
materials. We wanted to show people that instead of buying a pair of 300 dollar
branded fashion glasses that you could pay less for a handmade gorgeous piece of
wearable art - whose lens would actually protect your eyes.
Sounds awesome. So who do you carry if not the usual branded fashion glasses?
We
stock:
Glassing-Italy
Hentsch
Man-London
(editor favorite here!)
Waiting
for the Sun-french made of teak and rose wood
Lotho-French
designed, Japanese produced
Karen
Walker-New Zealand
Entourage
of 7-Danish/La company classic shapes polarized lens japanese made
Contego-Based
in Brooklyn
Retro
Super Future-Italy
Andy
Wolf-Austria
Funk
Food-Germany
L.G.R-Italy
May
Fourteenth-Buenos Aires
Spy-California
KBL-New
York
Elizebeth
and James-New York
Illesteva
Our stock is constantly changing and
I am constantly scouring the globe looking for new amazing designers to add to
my repertoire. We get new collections every Fall and Spring and we pride
ourselves on providing our customers with the best curated selection of eyewear
in the world. We have hundreds of styles that are constantly changing as most
of our designers make small batches in limited quantities.
But sunglasses are so personal - I'd want to try them on.
We
have a "Take Home Trail" to help our customers try on as many glasses
as they like without having to put any money down. On our website you can
select which glasses you would like to try on and after you authorize your
credit card, we will ship them to you in two days. You try them on
and keep what you like. Shipping and returns are always free.
We
also have a online style helper who asks you a couple of key
questions and gleans from your answers what kind of style personality you
have. From that style profile we further curate a selection for you to look
through.
What price are we talking here?
Our
glasses typically range from $150-350 which the median price being $200. We also
have a collection of one of a kind vintage pieces that are much more
expensive.
I don't think I fully understand - what else comes in this membership?
Our
membership model is simple: buy your first pair of full priced glasses and
become a member, for life. You will then receive your steel membership card
which grants you access to our member only events that we throw all over New
York City. Your membership number grants you access to our curated selection of
glasses at 50 percent off, for life. and send you discounts towards our other
limited edition styles throughout the year. Basically you will belong to a
community of eyewear lovers, and rewarded for your loyalty. To encourage customer participation with our social
media programs we also give our members cash back for posting their photos on
our website, twitter, and facebook page.
The
advantage that a consumer when shopping with us is that you will have access to
designers and styles that no one else will have. We carry many brands that have
no representation in the US, so we are actually the only place you can access
it. We do custom color combinations and styles that you can only buy from us.
You will be supporting independent artists instead of giant mega corporations.
We through the slickest parties in town, and you will be able to come with a
friend for free. You will have a steel membership card to pull out at parties
as a conversation piece. I will sit with you for hours until you find the
right pair of glasses for you, if you live out of town I will go on skype and
video chat with you; this way I can show you different designs I think will
compliment your bone structure and coloring. You will have access to incredible
discounts and a one year warranty on all of our shades. We are waving the membership
fee for a limited time, because we want to grow our community.
We
have worked tirelessly to bring you idiosyncratic, extraordinary, peerless
shades that will make people of the opposite sex want to snuggle with
you.
We
have customers from all over the world, but our main customer base comes from
New York City. We cater to anyone who wants to support small businesses and
stand out from the crowd.
I get it now! And can't wait to get some new glasses - thanks Zoe!
