Warby Parker Fall 2014: More than just ‘makers’ of eyewear

Design is a lot like life; if you keep doing what you’ve always done, chances are you’ll remain where you’ve always been. Great design moments throughout history were those that shifted the scope of broad collective thinking into a new era. In recent memory for example, the iPod became one of those major shifts because of the way it changed how we carried and purchased our music, while also laying the foundation for the products that followed it. Effective design is able to transform the way we live, plan, and shape our lives. Since its inception, eyewear brand Warby Parker has managed to bring to life those great design moments through their “rebellious spirit” and “lofty objective”. The brand takes a “socially-conscious” approach to eyewear design and construction. Warby Parker’s Fall 2014 collection will be available starting from 3 September 2014, and we at Phsics Media are excited to contribute towards this great collection’s exposure.  

When viewing Warby Parker’s Fall 2014 collection, thoughtfulness and personality are the first things that come to mind. This new collection proves that Warby Parker are more than just makers of eyewear. Each piece reflects a push towards a broad-minded kind of thoughtfulness: one that is aware and forward-looking. The nine piece collection is comprised of updated acetate frames with titanium temples, brand new styles in crystal, and angular silhouettes. They’ve also added two new hues, namely the Stripped Pacific and the Petal Tortoise. We love how each style is able to speak the personality of its wearer. This shows that great product making takes place when nobody is excluded, and that’s powerful. Go do great things!  

The Warby Parker Fall 2014 collection can be viewed here 

Images courtesy of Warby Parker 

Channeling NEWBO cultural ideals

according to Lee Hawkins LeBron James is a NEWBO

Steve Stoute calls it the “Tanning” of society when he describes how hip hop has created the effective bridging of urban cultural ideals with what was deemed as previously being conservative fractions of society. I recently watched known African American CNBC anchorman Lee Hawkins take us through his detailed series which showcases young black multi-millionaires, which he calls the NEWBOs, or the New Black Overclass. NEWBOs have a common characteristic; they have either made their fortune through music, sports or entertainment. Another way these NEWBOs amass great wealth is through personal branding, which is then followed up with endorsements and cross marketing deals. I think it’s a great period in our civilization; athletes such as Floyd Money Mayweather are on the verge of attaining billionaire status through their God given talents. I however have a concern regarding the NEWBOs; the majority of them, meaning 50% and more, rely on endorsements as a way of amassing their fortune. The black community seems to be an advertisers dream. Hip hop has become a culture of destructive consumerism. Please allow me to give an illustration?

Diddy's deal with Diageo to be the face of Ceroc has made him very rich

In 2009, Dr. Dre’s record executive Jimmy Iovine teamed up with Monster, a sound hardware components manufacturer, to bring us a line of headphones which retail at about USD 300. The problem here isn’t that these headphones retail at such a high price, and indeed the price is too high, instead I deem the problem here to be that a respected hip hop figure like Dre was the face of these headphones. The existence of these NEWBOs in the hip hop community has created destructive consumerism. Corporates view influential hip hop figures as an easy access point to millions of young black people, most of which are from relatively disenfranchised backgrounds. 

With all due respect the NEWBOs do make me proud and I can’t sideline their hard work in attaining such a status. But here’s what I would also like to see; in the NEWBO top 10, how about we have a black person who invented an iPad or one who conceptualized and coded a Twitter? In other words, how about we have someone who owns and represents the perceived ideals of the products that they sell? A Nike endorsement means that Nike sees their values and ideals being represented through you, which is why they’ll cancel the deal if you misrepresent them. The hip hop community needs to be mature in its approach and realize that this culture has the power to influence cross cultural ideals.If we took ownership of our branded 'culture', would corporates call the shots on us?