In a world of plastic and acrylic sunglasses, we’re lucky the down to earthy dudes and dudettes at Shwood disrupted the status quo with their nature-inspired frames made from wood, titanium, and now surf resin.
Say hello to the radical Surf Resin Collection (made in the USA from Shwood’s Portland-based workshop).
In a recent collaboration between the experimental eyewear brand and Shaper Studios— a DIY surfer workshop-meets-surf-shop inspired by So-Cal’s surfer culture— Shwood unveiled four new frames detailed with legit surfboard resin.
This highly intentional and craftsman detailing is the same non-toxic, bio-epoxy resin Shaper Studios uses to glass surfboards.
The aesthetic for the Surf Resin Collection draws from Pacific and San Diego surf culture, while the materials and shapes include a full-frame midnight surf resin-and-genuine-hardwood pair called The Canby in Hardwood + Midnight Surf Resin ($250), and three Italian Mazzucchelli acetate frames with resin inlay styles, The Canby in Black Midnight Surf Resin, The Francis in Crystal with Sunset Surf Resin, and our favorite The Francis in Smoke Midnight Surf Resin ($169).
And although Shwood initially brought its disruptive sunglasses to life in 2009 by experimenting with corner store lenses molded into Madrone trees and cabinet hinges, the Surf Resin Collection rocks color-matched polarized Carl Zeiss lenses (aka quality lenses that are glare counter-active, making contours clearer and bright sunlight perceived as considerably more relaxing and less fatiguing).
If you’re wondering how Shwood and Shaper Studios found one another, well, how did Supreme decide to collaborate with Kermit the Frog? Or Perrier with Andy Warhol, and Burger King with Cheetos?
Unlike these obviously profit-based collabs, Shwood and Shaper came together from a mutual passion for handmade authenticity and the beauty that grittiness holds in a product inspired by nature and hand-made human error.
Plus Shwood’s drive to experiment with design, materials, and aesthetics inspired by the natural world made it a perfect fit with the super-authentic Sharper, which teaches via private Surfboard Shaping Lessons how to understand and use material of the board.
In fact, Sharper Studios currently holds the title of the world’s first-ever do-it-yourself surfboard workshop and gathering place for arts, live music and community events.
You might even call the Surf Resin collab a match made in Heaven.
It’ll certainly look that way.
