Independent creative, content and media agency Edge has launched an online marketplace dedicated to helping consumers make more sustainable sunglass choices.
Folkal, featuring an industry-first sustainability rating system that allows consumers to quickly see which frames are better for the planet, is a joint venture between Accelerate, the venture division of Edge, and global eyewear giant Safilo.
“We’re on a mission to transform sustainability in the eyewear industry from the inside out,” said Richard Parker, executive strategy director at Edge, and co-founder of Folkal.
“Folkal is the first marketplace to solely feature planet-friendly eyewear across multiple brands. Our ground-breaking rating system aims to provide total transparency around sustainability, encouraging the industry to change for the better, and helping consumers to understand what makes eyewear sustainable."
The Folkal Eyewear Rating System works at an individual product level, providing a sustainability rating of GOOD, BETTER or BEST for product, case, process and transport.
Launch video HERE
Fergus Stoddart, growth and partnerships director at Edge and co-founder of Folkal, says the rating system is transparent and available for the whole industry to use.
“We put Safilo’s range through the rating system for launch, and only 300 styles were eligible to be featured on the site," he says.
"We have strict standards, but the door is always open to any brand that can meet our minimum threshold. We will work with Safilo and other manufacturers to improve their current rating with more sustainable materials and processes, and look forward to adding more styles soon.
"It’s important as an agency that we don’t just tell our clients that we know how to create and build brands, but demonstrate it by putting our money where our mouth is. As equal partners in this venture with Safilo, we’re invested in the future of eyewear both intellectually and where it counts: via our hip pockets.
“This is the furthest we have pushed our venture division. To date we have taken small positions in companies. Here we are forming a joint venture partnership with a client.
"Alongside the broader Edge team supporting on comms and media, we have a dedicated ecommerce team shaping the strategy and driving the businesses. This drives more commercial thinking and capability across the agency that we can then take to other clients.”
Folkal’s launch collection of sunglasses and readers includes brands such as Polaroid, Smith, Hugo Boss, Under Armour, Kate Spade and Levi’s.
Safilo’s senior director for APAC, David Pearson, says the company has been taking action throughout the world to reduce its footprint on the planet.
"... to reduce consumption of water and chemical components in our manufacturing processes, to install more environmentally friendly lighting, to reduce packaging materials, and to use eco-friendly and recycled materials in the manufacturing of our frames and lenses," he says.
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