Member Article

Behind the business: North East eyewear entrepreneur looks ahead

Establishing a brand in today’s fast-paced fashion industry is no mean feat, especially when faced with competition from high street stores and big brands, but entrepreneur and founder of OJO Distinctive Eyewear David Lusk has created something truly different you won’t find on the high street…

It is often the case that the best ideas for a business come to you when you least expect it. For David Lusk, who has worked in optics since he was just 17 years old, his lightbulb moment came when struggling to find a pair of glasses he liked. Having worked as a Lab Manager at a handful of established high street opticians across the North East throughout his career, David naturally began to develop an eye for fine craftsmanship and attention to detail in frames. After being made redundant in the recession, David began to research distinctive frames and soon discovered a gap in the market.

David’s journey began in September 2012 as he embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an optical exhibition in Beijing in search of distinctive frames and eyewear that could potentially become the hero products for a business idea he was nurturing. It was here David got to touch and feel the quality of wooden framed glasses and knew instinctively that these lightweight, hardwearing and unique frames were perfect for his burgeoning business. Such a unique product proved to be the perfect partner to David’s wealth of experience in the optical industry and OJO Distinctive Eyewear was born!

The aims behind OJO Distinctive Eyewear are simple: to bring customers something different they won’t find on the high street, and to deliver excellent customer service online with a more personal touch. Each OJO frame is crafted from wood, such as the Glory frame to give a stunning distressed effect, or artificial wood to create a distinctive look. Their ever-expanding range fits perfectly into the latest trends of statement eyewear and as David has discovered, appeal to customers of all ages. With over 30 years’ experience within the optical industry, OJO fit the highest quality ophthalmic lenses to each frame by hand which are sent to the workshop here in the UK. Tailored to your bespoke measurements and prescription, glasses can be glazed with prescription lenses along with UV protected and polarized sunglasses designed to eliminate glare. With free delivery to customers across the UK, Europe and North America, David’s designs have had plenty of attention since the launch early last year – most notably some of the players from the Detroit Tigers major league baseball team!

OJO, which is Spanish for eye, offer customers a free home trial service which means you can try the frames for size at home to make sure they’re right for you. All glasses are impact and scratch resistant as standard and available in a wide range of prescriptions. OJO’s distinctive eyewear has been crafted to ensure there’s something for everybody, regardless of personal style – from the Jaxon, a modern and bold angular design crafted to look like ebony, to the Weaver – a stylish, sophisticated brown frame – and the Humble, a natural light wood-effect frame loaded with geek chic. The beauty of OJO Distinctive Eyewear is that all frames are completely unisex, so perfect for pairing with different outfits, hairstyles and face shapes. Their range of fashion-led bamboo and wooden sunglasses are proving extremely popular as customers desire something lightweight and comfortable. There’s also an option for customers who don’t need to wear glasses - even the standard option is far from standard as they are anti-glare, scratch resistant and impact resistant.

Future plans for OJO Distinctive Eyewear include creating a vintage-inspired range called ‘OJO Iconic’ which will involve a collection of retro-style frames along with the opportunity to purchase vintage frames and have the lenses tailored to you prescription. OJO also kindly donate £1 for every pair of glasses or sunglasses bought to Orbis, a flying eye hospital that travels across the world to help treat and prevent blindness in some of the world’s poorest countries. For David, who once struggled to find frames he liked, continuously develops the range and admits the favourite part of running the business is the customer satisfaction from people, like him, who struggled to find something they liked or that was comfortable on their face.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by PNE Enterprise .