Introducing Reframe

Dear reader,

We’re glad you’ve landed here. In our last posts, we’ve taken you along on our journey towards becoming a more sustainable company, by opening up about our environmental impact, our challenges and successes, including creating a more sustainable packaging and using more responsible materials, like bio acetate. We’d now like to tell you about a new initiative that we’ve just launched and are super proud of, called Reframe.

As we’ve mentioned before, one of our greatest goals is to create a circular product, which means making the most of what we already have, by extending the life of our frames and the materials we use.

Circular Economy: Different from a linear economy, it aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails reducing the economy’s reliance on finite sources — like fossil fuels — and designing a new system without waste. (source: Ellen Macarthur Foundation)

With Reframe, you can bring us back your old frames and we’ll keep them around for longer, through repairing, refurbishing, reusing and, if none of those options are possible, recycling. In the near future, you will also be able to shop a carefully curated collection of refurbished frames that have been given a second chance to shine.

Quality eyewear, at a lower environmental cost.

To make our Neil frame from scratch, we emit 3.96kg CO2, while our Pierce frame produces 6.73kg CO2 (find more details in our Life Cycle Assessment or in this blog post). By refurbishing pre-worn frames, we prolong the lifespan of our products and therefore, reduce their environmental footprint.

So how does Reframe work exactly?

Phase 1

First, you return your old Ace & Tate frames at one of these selected stores, and we’ll give you a €10 (or equivalent) gift code towards your next purchase.

Phase 2

Once we have your frames, we divide them into the following categories:

Category A: In good condition, and ready to be refurbished. This means we’ll make them look as good as new with aesthetic tweaks — this involves cleaning the product, polishing it and tightening the screws.

Category B: slightly damaged and will need to be repaired. This may involve changing screws and putting in new lenses.

Category C: Broken frames that we are unable to repair or refurbish, that are to be recycled in the future.

In 2021, we will launch a research project dedicated to recycling old frames into new materials — this is harder than it sounds. That’s because some of the metal parts are melted into the acetate, making it difficult to separate and recycle them. You can read more about our production process and materials here.

Phase 3

We will release Reframe collections, made up of your old Ace & Tate frames and surplus and sample designs from our archive. These collections will be released in drops and will remain available in selected stores for a limited time only. We’re still working on this part and hope to announce the first release soon.

By launching Reframe, we want to encourage a more responsible way of producing and consuming eyewear, and ultimately act as a positive force for change in our industry.

Excited as we are? Get updates on Reframe by signing up here. We’ll also send you the latest on special collabs and inspiring projects we think you’ll love. All very worthwhile stuff, promise.

Oh, and if you’re curious about other ways we’re moving towards circularity, stay right there — we’ll be sharing more details on this topic soon.

Now, let’s Reframe!

Take care,