Talking sustainability and partnerships with…
Polly Ann Abbott, Marketing and Content Manager
When London-based eyewear brand MONC set out to create a sustainable fan for the Chelsea Flower Show, they weren’t just looking for a clever giveaway. They wanted to craft something beautiful, purposeful and waste-free — a piece that told a story and lived on beyond the event. That’s where we came in.
As a fellow sustainability-obsessed brand, we couldn’t resist collaborating with MONC to turn their vision into something tangible (and plantable). The result? A seed paper fan that’s as stylish as it is sustainable, designed to be used, admired and then grown into wildflowers.
We caught up with Polly Ann Abbott, Marketing and Content Manager at MONC, to chat about how the idea came to life, their approach to circular design, and how our collaboration has helped them bring their ‘I wear reconsideration’ ethos to life — one bloom at a time.
Sustainability is at the heart of what we do, as it is for you guys, so we want to know where the inspiration for creating seed paper fans came from.
“I actually came up with the idea about a year previous to us working with you guys. We wanted to make a statement at Wimbledon this year as it’s renowned for people wearing frames, especially the celebrities that you see in the crowds.
So the concept of the seeded fans, came from the initial thought of giving people something to take away that was memorable but also sustainable. You may have seen on our social media, we have a repair cart, which is like a mobile cart where we can polish up frames and do repairs on the go. Last summer, we were taking it around different locations in London and repairing people’s frames for free.
So then we thought of joining the queue at Chelsea Flower Show, to offer our service, and start a conversation! Whilst being able to give people something to take away and plant in their gardens. We also thought it was a nice storytelling piece, so the idea of the fans kind of just came to me and I knew we would never create something for waste sake. Then I did some research online, but couldn’t find anyone that actually made them and then we found you guys!”
Like us, we want to commit to making a change in our industry, so tell us how Monc is trailblazing in the sustainability world?
“I think what we strive to do as a company is to create the first impression of our product, the store, and the brand to show the beautiful quality, designs and luxury feel to our entire experience of purchasing our product.
But then when you actually look a bit closer, you realize not only does it look and feel like this luxury product, we also have a beautiful sustainability story. We want people to learn about the brand as they get to know it. So elements like knowing our spectacles are produced in Italy, the frame components and every single piece is sourced locally, as well as having a really close localized supply chain.
We always champion to sustain materials where we can, using bioacetate in our frames instead of regular acetate. We use mineral glass in our sunglass lenses instead of plastic which is quite an anomaly nowadays as not many companies do offer that. Also the product aftercare is a key element in making sure that customers come back to us for repairs later down the line as we use traditional riveted hinges that are repairable as opposed to many companies these days just inject them!”
How has Monc’s collaboration with Seedprint contributed towards your mission of closing the loop to be zero waste?
“We encourage our customers to keep hold of their products and as we say, ‘Oh, you’ve had your spectacles for a year. Do you fancy coming back and maybe turning them into sunglasses instead?’
So there are different options to be sustainable and reuse the product and you can switch out the lenses, so every single thing that we do, we try to reconsider it in the best way possible.”
Why is it important for Monc to source local materials for your products, especially the idea of the recycled coffee cup packaging?
“The recycled coffee cup concept was a mix between being considerate and being a really cool kind of touch point, which people are fascinated by. The idea behind locally sourced materials allows us to support the local economy through reducing environmental impacts by cutting down on transportation emissions.
Our slogan is ‘I wear reconsideration’, so whether that is the materials, products, packaging materials, the store design. So for instance, our packaging has two different types, one is made from recycled coffee cups and the other is made from mycelium, which we always send with our online orders, because of its naturally protective features that act as a nice protective layer.”
Can you tell us a little more about Monc’s fans and who you bumped into at Chelsea that Seedprint then worked with at Wimbledon?
We were at Chelsea and the Sipsmith founder, Sam Galsworthy came to our stand and he purchased some glasses. We were chatting to him and we showed him the seeded fans and he loved them, so that was a nice interaction.
He then reached out and basically said that he loved the idea of fans and was wondering if you’d be willing to let us know where you got them made. And of course, like I always think with these things, it’s important to support other businesses. So we were more than happy to spread the seed that we collaborated with Seedprint.
So a fun little question for you now! If you could make a pair of seed specs, who would you make them for and what flowers would they bloom into?
“Poppy Ochacha, and she’d like them to grow into sunflowers!
She’s an ecological gardener, who has inspired communities to reconnect to our land through gardening. She’s just launched an incredible book on how gardening can help us grow as individuals, but also grow into a better world and I feel like she would absolutely love the creativity behind this!”
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Learn more about Monc’s sustainable approach to eyewear design at monclondon.com
