This Friday, August 13th, we are excited to launch a new collaboration with Brooklyn-based eyewear manufacturers Lowercase. Some of you might remember the first project we worked on with them back in January of last year; for those who are new to the company, we wrote quite a bit about why we feel so strongly about their work and what makes it special; please give it a read here.

We stopped by a few weeks back to take photos of the manufacturing process on our newest project and all of those same sentiments we shared before still stand. In short, Lowercase manufactures all of their sunglasses start to finish under one roof, and it's their careful combination of new technology and highly manual finishing techniques that continue to floor us each time we work together. So many of the details that make a pair of Lowercase sunglasses special might be missed by the untrained eye - like on any well-made garment  - but for those who know, it's hard to go back. 

For our newest project together, we chose to work with two of their flagship silhouettes: the Ace and the Dakota. Ever since we began stocking Lowercase's in-line sunglasses at our retail stores, we've found the Dakota - the ultra bold looking round lens frame - to be an extremely wearable unisex frame that people come back to over and over again. The Ace is a bit more traditional, but still super strong in its own right with a chunky frame that shows the acetate off beautifully as light passes through. 

Upon first glance, it's easy to miss the fact that we've employed three distinct patterns into the sunglasses. The Ace and Dakota both use the same three Italian Mazzucchelli tortoise shell acetates, but in different frame and leg configurations that we felt befit the shape of the frame. This effect is discreet when worn, but noticeable on the second, third or fourth look - just like the construction, components and finishing details. Both sunglasses are finished with brown Carl Zeiss 100% UVA/UVB polarized lenses - and for an in-store exclusive, we're offering these same frames with yellow Zeiss lenses. 

The Lowercase for 3sixteen Ace and Dakota sunglasses retail for $350 and will release on 3sixteen.com this Friday, August 13th at noon EDT. You can find the brown lenses as well as a very limited supply of the yellow lens variants in-store via our NY and LA flagship stores on the same day.