First Belgian sunglasses made out of recycled fishing nets
The Belgian children's clothing brand, Filou & Friends, is launching children's sunglasses in collaboration with us. With this collaboration, Filou & Friends and Yuma Labs not only want to offer sustainable alternatives, but also inspire other companies to think and act circular.
Sunglasses are often made out of small parts of plastic and metal. Once they are no longer used and end up on the landfill, they are difficult to recycle and reprocess. Yuma Labs thinks that this needs to change. We design sunglasses out of recycled materials, ready to be recycled again at the end of their life. Together with Filou & Friends, we are launching a unique and sustainable children's sunglasses collection.
Circular fashion model
The frame of the sunglasses are made out of 100% recycled fishing nets. Old and abandoned fishing nets (ghost nets) are collected and cleaned to then be fully recyclable via molecular recycling. And to complete the circle, the sunglasses are designed to be recycled after their use without ever losing their quality. At Yuma Labs we try to not waste any materials.
Sebastiaan de Neubourg, founder of Yuma Labs: "With Yuma Labs we want to offer a very different perspective on the role of waste in our society and our environment. We live in a take-make-and-waste consumer society. However, waste on our planet essentially did not exist. Since the very beginning of life, nature has continuously recycled all materials and over and over again. So the model for a circular economy is actually already there. We only need to adapt it and make it our own. Thanks to the cooperation with Filou & Friends, we are one step closer to convincing more people of this sustainable idea."
Fashion, play and future proof
Kids' sunglasses shouldn't just look cute. They also need to be safe and playful at the same time. Besides that the sunglasses should be produced sustainable, a lot of thinking went into the design of the frames. For example, the glasses are extremely bendable, wear anti-scratch lenses and are available in four different colours.
Rudi Maes, CEO Filou & Friends: "Our mission is to let children be children without a care in the world. We do this on the one hand by letting them romp around in comfort and shine through our clothing and accessories. On the other hand, we also want to guarantee them a bright future and thus contribute to a healthy planet. Our clothing must be fashion proof, play proof and future proof. That's why Filou & Friends is making the transition from a linear to a circular clothing brand where we focus on the longevity of the products we offer and on avoiding waste. The collaboration with Yuma Labs is an example of such a concrete step towards a more sustainable and fair fashion."
Via a QR code on the cleaning cloth, the consumer gets more information about the origin of the sunglasses. Those who are ready to say goodbye to their sunglasses can return them to any of the 23 Filou & Friends stores for a second life or recycling.
The Filou & Friends and Yuma Labs sunglasses collection is available now in the 23 Filou & Friends stores and through the children's clothing brand's webshop.