The Menswear Style Podcast is a leading men’s fashion and menswear podcast exploring men’s style, clothing, grooming, lifestyle and the business behind some of the world’s most exciting fashion brands. Hosted by Peter Brooker, each episode features conversations with menswear designers, fashion entrepreneurs, innovative brand founders and industry experts from across the global fashion and apparel industry. Discover the stories behind established and emerging clothing brands, from the first idea and challenges of launching a fashion start-up to building a successful international business. Guests share their experiences and insights across fashion design, sustainability, manufacturing, marketing, branding, eCommerce, retail, social media and business growth. Whether you’re interested in men’s fashion and style, discovering new menswear brands, starting your own clothing label, or learning how successful fashion businesses are built, the Menswear Style Podcast takes you behind the scenes of the modern menswear industry. New conversations with the people shaping the future of menswear, men’s style and fashion.
Ed Bird, Founder of Bird Eyewear / Sustainable Sunglasses Brand
•Menswear Style •Episode 193
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In this episode of the Menswear Style Podcast, host Peter Brooker speaks to Ed Bird, co-founder of Bird Eyewear, the pioneering British eyewear brand combining distinctive design, innovative materials and an ambitious approach to sustainability.
Founded by Ed and his two younger brothers, Lawrence and Paul, Bird Eyewear set out with a simple goal: to make better eyewear for a better world. None of the founders came from a traditional fashion, eyewear or optical background, which allowed them to approach the industry without many of its established assumptions.
Ed explains how his background in education, event production and music helped prepare him for entrepreneurship, and how Bird began life in 2016 as a side project before developing into a serious business.
A major turning point came in 2019 when Bird Eyewear's Blackcap frame won Frame of the Year at the Optician Awards. Ed describes how beating much larger international eyewear brands gave the company the confidence to raise investment and take the business to the next level.
The timing of that investment proved particularly interesting, arriving shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ed discusses the mixed impact of the pandemic on an online eyewear business, with eCommerce accelerating while demand for sunglasses initially fell as people stopped travelling and spending time outdoors.
In response, Bird Eyewear accelerated its optical offering and developed its home try-on service, allowing customers to test frames without visiting a high-street optician. The brand has also embraced virtual try-on technology, enabling shoppers to see how different frames look on their face in real time.
Sustainability sits at the heart of the Bird Eyewear proposition. Ed explains how the company uses materials including certified wood, renewable cork, recycled aluminium, bio-based plastics and innovative materials derived from sources such as castor beans.
Rather than treating sustainability as a marketing add-on, Bird Eyewear looks closely at the environmental impact of its entire supply chain. Ed discusses how the company evaluates materials, manufacturing and emissions, including its decision to source recycled aluminium from Norway partly because of the lower carbon footprint associated with the energy used in processing it.
We also hear about Bird's philosophy of constantly looking for what the team calls the “Birdnest” — that extra level of thought and innovation that can make a product meaningfully better.
That philosophy extends beyond the frames themselves into packaging and the wider customer experience. Ed explains why the company puts so much emphasis on materials, details and design, even in areas that customers might not immediately notice.
The interview also explores Bird Eyewear's work to develop a genuinely circular eyewear proposition closer to home. Through an innovation project with Devon County Council, the company has been developing frames manufactured in Devon from locally sourced waste materials, with the potential for those frames to be returned and recycled again at the end of their life.
Ed takes us behind the scenes of this process, explaining why creating a genuinely local circular supply chain is far more complex than simply sending a design to a conventional manufacturer. From testing material strength to 3D-printing prototypes and developing local injection moulding capabilities, the project demonstrates just how much experimentation can sit behind a seemingly simple pair of glasses.
The conversation also touches on the influence of popular culture and film on eyewear. Ed discusses the role of iconic screen characters and films in shaping fashion trends, including Bird Eyewear's work around the Top Gun: Maverick phenomenon and its aviation-inspired recycled aluminium aviators.
Ed also shares the company's approach to wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales. Bird separates its online and B2B collections in order to give both audiences a more appropriate range, while continuing to work with independent optical stores and fashion retailers.
As the business prepares for further growth, Ed discusses larger wholesale opportunities, future investment and the continuing challenge of scaling a sustainable business without losing the principles that made it distinctive in the first place.
A fascinating conversation about British eyewear, sustainable materials, circular manufacturing, bio-based plastics, optical retail, entrepreneurship, product development and building a purpose-driven fashion brand.
Discover Bird Eyewear at findyourbirds.com and follow the brand on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter at @findyourbirds. Explore more menswear, fashion and style content at menswearstyle.co.uk.
Hello, welcome to another episode of the menswear style podcast. I'm your host Pete Brooker and today on the show we're talking to Ed bird, co founder of bird eyewear, the first B Corp certified eyewear brand in the UK, pioneering change in the fashion industry. Their frames are made out of certified words by based acetate, renewable cork, recycled aluminium, and they create exceptional designs and focus obsessively on quality. And here to tell us more about bird eyewear is Ed bird.
Unknown:
So I'm Ed, one of the cofounders of bird eyewear founded the brand with my two younger brothers, Lawrence and Paul. And yeah, I guess in a nutshell, our goal is to make better eyewear for a better world. So me and my brothers, we wanted to create a brand that really kind of moved the needle in the eyewear industry. And we set about we wanted to do it in a genuine, thoughtful, playful kind of way. None of us are from a fashion or eyewear, or even an optical background. So like in that sense, we didn't carry any baggage or like prior knowledge, which would be really nice, because it means that like, as we've started this brand, our approach to eyewear has been completely different to everyone else in the industry. So yeah, I guess for like for me and my brothers, we kind of describe it as like we've gone from building dens to you know, building a brand building a movement. But yeah, our goal is to make better eyewear for a better world. And I'm happy to happy to unpack that.
PB:
Just dial it back. What was your background before you launch this? And did you have any transferable skills at all?
Unknown:
I think a lot of transferable skills, my background was education. So a very, very different industry. And I'm also a musician, I'm a drummer, I still I still moonlight as a drummer for my sins. But yeah, I've also been involved in a lot of events and kind of growing, you know, whether that's kind of growing projects in educational settings, or outside of that done a little bit of work with Ted. So yeah, I guess all of those skills were very transferable in terms of starting with an idea. And then you're just kind of tugging on the corners and seeing what comes next year. You know, failing, failing fast and learning as you go.
PB:
Did you have to do a TED talk?
Unknown:
No, no, no, I haven't done a TED talk. But yeah, I was involved kind of on the in in the event organising site.
PB:
All right. I was just thinking my mind wandered off when you mentioned drumming that are there any cool drummers that wear sunglasses exclusively. And I'm thinking nowadays, if you're a drummer, you've got so much more going on, you got like the click track, you might even have like an operable programme drum kit, electrical things that you need to look at that you wouldn't be able to see on stage if it's dark, and you got your sunglasses on. So I don't think you see. I mean, sunglasses are now just for musicians when they record music videos, not for when they're doing live stuff, because they got so much stuff that they need to see. That's technical, right?
Unknown:
I think so. Yes. Yeah. I mean, a lot of the time when I'm on stage, I can kind of barely remember all of the all of the little kind of things and paraphernalia and in ear monitors and things that I need, let alone kind of remembering to put my put my shades
PB:
and then the game is up really when you have to take the shades off to do all the programming and look at the setlist it's like you're almost a charlatan up there. Anyway, I digress already. Please, talk to me about I'm very interested in how this got off the ground with regards to capital. Maybe you can talk about how you raise the funds first.
Unknown:
Yes, we first launched the brand, kind of as a side hustle as many, many brands start back in 2016. And you know, we were it was kind of slow momentum at first while we were making small iterations and just kind of getting to grips with how the industry works, how the products work, getting feedback on our designs, and so on. And it wasn't until 2019 When we launched the company that year, and one of our frames called a black cap, one frame of the Year at the optician Awards, which is kind of like kind of like the Grammys but I eyewear, you know, so all of the all of the big, big big brands are there. It's a global thing Ricky Gervais presenting. Yeah, that that console brands. Exactly. And so we we were nominated for frame of the year, we were up against some very big brands from Italy. And like LA I work works from from the States. But anyway, short story we, we ended up winning. And that was a really kind of explosive moment for us. You know, we were this kind of small, that, you know, part time team from Devon. So yeah, that was really the catalyst where we thought, okay, you know, I think we were really onto something here, people are really enjoying what we're doing. They're liking the designs and the frames. So we kind of set about creating our investment deck and laying out the story and our plans. And we reached out to a number of people. And it was through an investment platform called worth capital. We ended up we ended up getting investments through them, which was, yeah, which was really great. And that enabled us to launch with a full time team in January 2020. So we launched probably a month before the pandemic kind of hit lockdowns hit. So that was either perfect timing or really bad timing. And we still we can't quite work it out. But if it's online,
PB:
but yeah, as an e commerce Store, if I'm right, then the pandemic hitting will, I imagine effect supply chains and traps. People might be knuckling down and seeing where their money's going, because they're not making as much if they're being furloughed, etc. But at the same time, you've got more people in front of their computers. You know, we've itchy fingers. So yeah, I guess it's it could be a catch as catch can 5050 on whether that goes your way or not?
Unknown:
Yes, I'd say it was a mixed blessing. It was good that the online market kind of exploded. But bad in the sense that you know, people weren't going outdoors much they weren't going on holidays, so there was less need for sunglasses. So we we very quickly orientated the business and we developed our optical side much quicker than we were planning to. And we also developed our home tryon service. And we launched that in early 2012. So
PB:
that when you have like four pairs of sunglasses that you can try on for a quit.
Unknown:
Yes, though, so currently, it's only for optical only for glasses. So that was something that we were we were we were pushing that. So it was very simple for people to try on frames when they couldn't get to the high street because the High Street was closed, we did open that out for a short period for sunglasses as well. But now that's just for optical. So
PB:
I've seen on some sunglasses, websites, that you can actually have like a, I guess an avatar or a 3d version of the glasses on how they look. I don't know the name of the software. But is that something that you've seen also, and something that you've considered?
Unknown:
Yes, we have that option on on our website on on almost all of our product pages, you will find a virtual town. And what I think what's great about the system we use, we work with a company in France to to develop it, and it does it in real time. So rather than scan your face or upload a photo you can, you can be there live, and you can try on a pair of frames, and you can turn your head and see what they look like. And the sizing is kind of is accurate, up to about three or four millimetres. So it's very, very close. So it gives people a really good idea of what a particular shape or style would look. Okay,
PB:
that's interesting. So you can go on your site, I didn't get down to I guess the the trial outs or the virtual trial ons, but you can you can do that or through your page. That's good. What would you say is the USP of the brand? And Ed I mean, if you were to sum it up in a nutshell, why yours is getting the awards, and the notoriety what would you what would you put it down to at the moment?
Unknown:
Yeah, I would say. So. Our kind of USP is that we like to think that we're innovating for good. And as a team, you know, we love going the extra mile and just kind of taking things that extra step almost unnecessarily at times, but just to really kind of prove to ourselves and to others that we're kind of going above and beyond to do things better. So whether that's like innovating, like different kinds of materials for our friends like our we launched a children's range that's made from Castor beans last year. And they've been super popular sold out really quick last year. And we do a lot of things with them certified words and other bio plastics, renewable quarks recycled aluminium. But yeah, I think for us, it's all about just taking that extra step. So just to give an example are the aluminium for our, for our recycled metal frames, we sourced that in Norway, because the carbon emission footprint is lower, because of the energy usage of the factory that recycled that. And, and so all of this stuff, we plug into our supply chain metrics, and we kind of, you know, we work out all of the all of the emissions across our supply chain as well. So we really kind of geek out on those small details and on the materials and like, we, we kind of extend that as well to packaging. So it's not just about the frames, you know, we make great glasses, but we make brilliant packaging as well. And we're kind of innovating that. And we we kind of extend that ethos right through the whole company. And so yes, it's just about finding, we call it the birdnest. So like, Where's where's the birdnest in this, and it's that kind of 5% Extra that we're that we're looking for.
PB:
And we spoke off, Mike about how you might be planning to move some operations down to where you're based down in the south, there may mind talking us through that.
Unknown:
Yeah, so we've recently done over the last 12 months an innovation project, which we've worked in partnership with Devon county council. And you know, we're fortunate to get some innovation funding to really kind of supercharge our plans here in the southwest. So for us working with manufacturers, we have manufacturers all over the world. And it's really about finding the right man or manufacturer for the right material. But we've always wanted to do things closer to home and create that kind of circular product economy. So yeah, so this year, and in the in the coming months, we'll be launching a new range of products, which are made in Devon, from waste that sourced from Devon. So in that sense, it will be a kind of completely circular product, and then its end of life, it can be sent back to us and recycled again. And so it's just yeah, has a very low carbon footprint. And so that's that's been a really exciting journey for us just going through the motions, trying to kind of match up local supply from, you know, waste collection through to processing through to manufacture. And yes, we're, we're pretty excited about having that
PB:
power. That's really cool. But I mean, when you have to go through that kind of process, is it a long process? I imagine you're emailing councils, like government? Typically nothing ever happens and machinery of government as well. So are you just on the phone all the time going? Where's my answer? Where's my reply?
Unknown:
It's definitely a longer process than going to a normal kind of manufacturer going the typical supply chain route where you can call them up and you can send them a CAD design or a drawing or something and say, can you make this for me? And they'll say, Yep, no problem. So we've had to approach it very differently, and almost kind of start from just the initial idea, what's the material we want to use? Can we make something with this? Is it strong enough, and then we do a series of tests, and we've gone through various prototypes that first we 3d print to make sure that they're kind of the right shape and style before we then create the moulds so that they can be injection moulded locally using waste material. So yeah, and I guess having the having the local and having the local councils involvement has been really helpful. They they bring something extra, obviously, there is a bit more paperwork, there's more bureaucracy involved, as you can imagine, but But it's been really helpful. And it's something that we haven't been, we wouldn't have been able to achieve it. I think otherwise, or at least not not as quickly as we would have liked. Interesting.
PB:
Well, you've, you've replenished my faith in local council and sustainable government system. Really, that's really encouraging to hear. You switching gears perhaps not so seamlessly, but when I think of, like Sunglow I says I often think of like actors and famous brand ambassadors and iconic films and stuff like that. Do you ever look at films and think, crikey, Daniel Craig looks good in X Y, Zed or, you know, Cary Grant on the train in North by Northwest, how do we get something like that on the go? Do you use any, like cinema iconography to influence your designs at all?
Unknown:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there are Yeah, there are so many iconic kind of film stars. I mean, like, last year, for example, the maverick film The Top Gun film with Tom Cruise. We, we, we did a big piece on that with our aviator style, our recycled aluminium aviators, which, you know, for those, we took very direct inspiration from the aviation industry when we were designing those those frames. And and yes, certainly when we're putting mood boards together for seasons and shoots or styles. Invariably, there will be some kind of film imagery in there. Yeah, and I guess in many ways, as well, like films, they kind of help shape the zeitgeist of fashion in terms of what's going on, and what's current and so on. So yeah, I think that that can be really helpful.
PB:
And are you conscious of like image rights and protection, and IP and stuff like that? So for example, if you did want to take Sylvester Stallone from Cobra, which will be a very deep pool. We love the glasses, but how do we can wrangle it so that we don't get any red letters?
Unknown:
Yes, yeah, always have to be mindful of that stuff. But yeah, that's fairly easy to kind of just check that you're not treading on toes or like any kind of design inspiration you're using is, you know, isn't kind of infringing on others. And I guess that that's, that's all part of the process when you have an idea, and you kind of you then look for, I guess, kind of outside influences to help develop the idea. But it's always it's always a journey that we will go on internally, and we'll kind of validate it along the way.
PB:
I'm trying to think of the most famous drummer that would be wearing sunglasses nonstop. It I was gonna say Nikki six, but I don't think he wore sunglasses live. I think he wore them all in the videos.
Unknown:
Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think I think for most dramas, it's it's video.
PB:
How often do we see? So this is one for the listeners? How often do we see drummers wear sunglasses whilst playing live? And I'm not talking about MTV videos where they're playing live to a studio audience and it's all pre recorded. They have to see what the hell is going on.
Unknown:
Exactly, yeah. Answers on a postcard for that one.
PB:
I mean, I just Googled like Rick Allen, Rick Allen from Def Leppard lost his arm. He was a drummer. And he was one guy that would never wear sunglasses on stage, because you know, you've only got one arm you don't want to be faffing around with, you know, the prosthetic one trying to get the sunglasses off so you can see the song list. Anyway, meanwhile, back sorry, I had a tangent there with drugs. And meanwhile, Meanwhile, back in the interview. Edie, I want to know about kind of, we spoke about the project down there in Devon. Have you got any future plans for exhibitions? Do you go to trade fairs, any bricks and mortar pop ups on the horizon 2023
Unknown:
So for 2023 No plans for bricks and mortar stores. We are predominantly online DTC, but we do stock in kind of fashion boutiques for our sunglasses and in a lot of optical stores, mostly independent optical stores. Last year, we took the decision to separate out our DTC and b2b ranges. So from February March 23, we will have our online styles which are only available online and then we'll have our b2b styles which are only available to optical stores and in that way it in that sense it will enable us to kind of curate a much kind of better fit for both audiences because they are very different, you know, people that are shopping online for eyewear versus people that are going into their local independence. Absolutely need need both and there's you know, there's so many benefits in in having both, you know, the ease of shopping online is is fantastic, but You know, sometimes you can't beat going into an opticians and, and trying lots of different pairs on and having that face to face service. So yeah, for us it's been we've wanted to cater for both, but do it really, really well. So that's something that that we're looking to do
PB:
this year. Are you trying to pitch to like sell fridges or John Lewis or anything like that? Is that also thinking big?
Unknown:
Not currently we are. We are joining some slightly bigger optical groups, and we've got some bigger, kind of b2b wholesale opportunities on the horizon. So this year, we're also we're looking to do another investment raise to kind of help us with that next step as we as we scale things up further. But, uh, yeah, most of the time, it's stores that come to us, and they say, We love the product, you know, these fit really well with what the consumer is looking for in terms of, you know, being more environmentally friendly, and so on being a bit different. And so yeah, most of the time, it's stores that are that are coming to us, rather than us actively seeking out
PB:
awesome, Ed, thanks so much for jumping on. It's been fascinating listening to the makings of the business app, find your birds is where you're hanging out on Instagram. Is that where you hang out personally? Is it you behind the scenes there too?
Unknown:
Yes, what you'll find myself and my team they're at Find your birds. Very easily find me on Instagram or LinkedIn, as well. But yeah, at Find your birds, that's for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well. And you can keep up to keep up to date with everything that we're that we're doing and everything in the life of the birds.
PB:
And that's a website also find your birds.com Great, yes, where we can go and do some shopping. Brilliant. All right, Ed. Well, thanks for jumping on and until next time you've been listening to the menswear style podcast be sure to head over to menswear style dot code at uk for more menswear content and email info at menswear style.co.uk If you'd like to be a future guest on the show. Finally, please help support the show by leaving a review on iTunes or wherever you're listening to this podcast. Until next time
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