Skip to main content

Feel Good Friday – Wild Soul

Fashion and Philanthropy – it can’t get any more Feel Good Friday than that. This is the motto of the new eyewear line, Wild Soul.

Friends Marc Battipaglia and Andres Beker founded the well-designed eyewear brand a year ago. The two met in college at Emory University in Atlanta and now Andres lives in Columbia and Marc in New York City. The collection is refreshingly modern (aren’t we all tired of the Ray Ban look just a little bit?). Some may be a bit too forward for our tastes but we are digging the Tektite Gray Bat and Golden Eagle to name a few.

Recommended Videos

Marc and Andres believe sunglasses allow you to feel a sense of security and comfort, allowing us to express ourselves freely (so this is why celebs wear them!). Wild Soul sunglasses are themed after enchanting, untamed animals: The Lion, the Owl, the Elephant and the Rhino, and the new fall collection: The Raccoon, the Panther, the Bat, and the Eagle. In essence, Wild Soul sunglasses are the way we want the world to see who we are, and make a clear affirmation that there is a little wild to everyone’s soul.

But what’s important to Marc and Andres is that no act of kindness is ever wasted. Wild Soul was created on the premise that there are causes greater than our own that can and must be supported. That is why when you buy a pair of Wild Soul Sunglasses, a portion of your purchase goes to a charity of your choice (all of the charities they work with are listed on the site when you choose your shades. The organizations range from Techo to Water Collective and Funsepa. The boys are always looking to expand their charities so email them if you have an idea.

Oddly, Marc and Andres thought of their donation model before deciding on a product to connect it to. Both entrepreneurs shared a passion for sunglasses and when Andres drew a design that he had been looking for and showed it to Marc, they just knew it was the right fit for their donation model.

Another aspect we love is their shade insurance. Pay $35 when you purchase your glasses and they will be protected for one full year. No matter if you lose them, burn them, give them away, you will get another pair at no additional cost. Now that is just a double dose of feel good right?

Cator Sparks
Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual
Cator Sparks was the Editor-in-Chief of The Manual from its launch in 2012 until 2018. Previously, Cator was covering…
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more
The NBA’s ultimate celebration tool: The victory cigar
A look at the players and coaches who smoke to celebrate
Jordan smoking a cigar image on a bag

Sports are synonymous with celebration. After winning the biggest trophy of their lives, athletes want to indulge in the payoff that comes with seeing their dreams realized. Teams go into the locker room, where a waterfall of champagne hits them in the eyes, and swimming goggles seem to be a requirement, lest you walk around on the best night of your life half blind. While drinking is often the activity of choice after winning a championship, the NBA has an alternative symbol of greatness that other sports don't use nearly enough: the victory cigar.

Basketball is a team game, but it's also an individual canvas for solo superstardom. After winning an NBA championship, the coaches and players who sit atop the throne have long smoked a cigar in the locker room, during the parade, or even on the bench before the clock has hit zero. There's nothing quite like a good stogie to signify the ultimate win over the rest of the league, but how did the victory cigar get so ingrained in NBA championship celebrations? We want to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the historical moments and people who made the cigar what it is within the NBA today.
Red Auerbach's victory cigar on the bench
Red Auerbach: The Story Behind the Victory Cigar + His Disdain of NBA Officials - Red on Roundball

Read more
The best medical shows of all time to binge now
From ER to The Pitt, these are the best medical shows ever made
Noah Wyle in the Pitt

Throughout TV's long history, the medical drama has occupied a somewhat unique place in the landscape. Medical shows are often some of the most reliable on TV precisely because there's so much drama built in to working in a hospital.

Personally, I've found the medical drama to be deeply comforting for years, even if I have no desire to be a doctor myself. Understanding the stress of people in the healthcare profession is fascinating in and of itself.

Read more