Ombraz

Sunglasses have more or less looked and felt the same for years, but one Seattle startup is shaking up the basic look and feel of sunglasses for a completely new experience.

Ombraz removed the sidearms from sunglass. The plastic ear pieces are known to break easily, poorly fit and sometimes hurt your ears or head, and so Ombraz has thrown those sidearms out the window.

What’s the brand’s solution instead? Ombraz attached a minimalist, adjustable cord to the frames, which keeps sunglasses secure and comfortable. The polarized Zeiss optics and the adjustable cord combined mean you can throw those frames just about anywhere and not worry about breakage, whether you tuck them in your back pocket, throw them in your purse, wear them in the ocean or while hiking up a mountain or even while on the back of a motorcycle.

Additionally, Ombraz as a company is completely carbon negative, sequestering more than 300 times the carbon it takes to produce and deliver each pair of sunglasses. Ombraz plants 20 trees for each pair sold, and has planted more than 50,000 trees since launching last May.

The frames come in tortoise, charcoal and matte brown, while the lens come in polarized yellow, brown or gray. Frame sizes range from regular to narrow. Each pair starts at $140.