History
Coco and Breezy is a contemporary company that got its start when its owners were teenagers. From a small scale New York based eyewear company, it has become a highly visible and lucrative industrially produced design firm.
Founded in 2009 by Corianna and Brianna Dotson, better known as Coco and Breezy, the identical twin sisters are originally mid-westerners and established themselves in New York to realize their dreams.
The Company's Mission
The company’s mission is to illuminate individuality and empower self-expression. Described as eyewear crafted into wearable art, Coco and Breezy glasses make the customer feel seen. Each frame is individualized. Emblazoned with namesakes that honor their communities, Coco and Breezy’s eyewear is a celebration of culture and a reflection of individual style.
In addition to shared vision, and values, the company embraces diversity and inclusivity in a way that has never been seen before in the eyewear industry. First of all, the designers are of African American and Puerto Rican heritage. As known entities, the glasses and their makers entice customers willing to try something new and modern and that are aligned with customer values.
Coco and Breezy’s pieces are proudly unisex and have the effect of elevating and accentuating every customer’s unique essence.
Celebrity Endorsement
At their young age, these designers have gained considerable recognition in the optical industry and from celebrities alike. Starstruck with Coco and Breezy eyewear, Ashanti, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce have all donned these fashionable spectacles or sunglasses in recent times at venues that have raised interest and visibility for Coco and Breezy’s product line.
Design and Branding
The eyewear designers have been showcased in optical magazines as well as the mainstream. A recent article in 20/20 mentioned Coco and Breezy gaining recognition while bridging the gap between fashion forward eyewear and eyewear as a medically necessary implement to protect and preserve vision.
They are quite passionate about sharing knowledge about eyecare. In 2012, Coco and Breezy began mass production having formerly handcrafted futuristic sunglasses and regular frames. The dynamic duo stated that “they aim to help teach Millennials that it’s important to get your eyes checked and to protect your eyes out in the sun and also from blue light emitted from digital devices”.
Collaboration: What Sets Them Apart
Coco and Breezy taught themselves how to produce eyewear but in the beginning, they couldn’t conceptualize how a frame could go from a sketch to an actual product.
In the 20/20 article, Breezy explains: I start with the first initial sketches. I’m constantly sketching eyewear and seeing things that can be part of our eyewear; I can look at a window and see how I can incorporate it into a temple. It starts in my notebook, I sketch it out first and then put it into digital format. From there, Coco and Duane review my designs and tweak them. Sometimes my designs can be a little too extravagant, so they just move a line and make the frame so amazing. Then we go through all the materials and pick out the colorways together. I lead the design and the colorways, but Coco and Duane have to approve them. We have a true collaboration. The best part is that sometimes we look at some of our designs, and we see where it started and how it was finished with one little tweak. It’s really beautiful to have another eye to change something up to make it even better.
The general manager puts the spatial layout software known as AutoCAD into action to assist. They help Breezy start the design in Illustrator from sketch, and it gets finished off in AutoCAD. After a nascent popularity and growth, the company ended up sourcing factories in China and learned how to actually produce large scale eyewear.
Coco and Breezy does everything in house—from designing and managing, to production and talking directly to the factory with no middleman. They are close to the product and appreciate when customers are satisfied with their attention to detail in the manufacturing process. For the latest in Coco and Breezy eyewear, schedule a frames consultation at Medical Center Opticians today.
Comments