Etnia Barcelona is starting 2022 with a bang, creating The Etnia Eyewear Culture Group and launching three new independent brands – Allpoets, The Readers, and Lool.

The new brands have been created in line with the way Etnia sees the world today, said founder and CEO David Pellicer. “We’ve got where we are today by listening to our customers, the opticians and by challenging market rules. We started out with just four of us – all crazy and passionate about eyewear – and now have a staff of over 600. Our aim is to elevate the eyewear market to its limits. The world is changing at great speed and what the consumer seeks is brands with purpose and new products with their own values.”

New Zealand distributor CMI Optical’s Brad Boult said it was a very exciting time for Etnia. “Despite Covid challenges, Etnia was able to increase sales last year by 16% and is now the second biggest selling independent brand in Europe. Even with last year’s lockdown, we managed to increase sales substantially with the Etnia Originals and Etnia Vintage collections. With the addition of the new collections from Etnia Eyewear Culture, 2022 is looking very promising.”

CMI plans to release all three collections in New Zealand, said Boult. “First out will be The Readers, a collection of bold, vintage-inspired frames made from biodegradable acetate, which fill a gap in the market for a quality ready-reader with great support.”

Allpoets boasts International Sustainability and Carbon Certification-endorsed organic eyewear, crafted using carbon renewal technology acetate produced by the Mazzucchelli-Eastman partnership. Lool, meanwhile is the ‘built to be light’ brand and is all about technical, ultra-lightweight eyewear (weighing just 4g). It uses a patented hinge system and screw-free structure. The brand is currently involved in registering two patents that Pellicer said will revolutionise sustainable production and the lightweight eyewear sector.