Jean-François Venne, Optik Magazine–s contributor, spoke with Sydney Seggie about their dream of bringing eyewear manufacturing back to Prince Edward Island, and launching Fellow Earthlings, specialized in sunwear.
Sydney Seggie grew up in the eyewear world. Her father worked at the old Tannereye factory in PEI back in the 1980s. They collaborated with brands like Ralph Lauren and Ray- Ban. Then they moved to the Fukui area in Japan and lived in the thick of the Japanese eyewear industry. As she grew older, Sydney had this dream of making eyewear in Canada and specifically in PEI.
As their name, Fellow Earthlings suggests, they are very passionate about sustainability. Their cases are made of organic unbleached cotton and they make sure all production scrap gets recycled into new materials. The frames themselves are handmade from recycled material made in-house, from what would be waste materials. Most of what they make is made to order, so they do a lot of customization. They send catalogues to stores and clients can choose the acetate and the shapes that they want.
Find out how PEI inspires their creations and learn more about Fellow Earthlings HERE!
The full interview with Sydney Seggie, by Optik journalist Jean-Francois Venne is available in the June July Issue of Optik Magazine.
