Development of commercial UK based manufacturing for 3D printed eyewear

Tides Studios has for the past two years developed products and manufacturing pathways for 3D printed eyewear. Our process is more environmentally friendly and offers more design possibilities than the traditional acetate or injection moulded counterparts. Our proposal is to expand our operation to move from being a back end manufacturer for existing fashion brands to becoming a direct to consumer company.

We aim to utilise the benefits of this current technology which is not currently being used to its full potential in this industry.

To start we propose to develop a range of our own optical products which will be designed and manufactured entirely in the UK using the existing 3D printing manufacturing pathways we have in place. As part of this stage of our development we also aim to also create a sustainably UK-sourced packaging solutions with our local subcontractors. As a small and dynamic team made up of a designer and engineer we are able to pivot and use local innovative manufacturers using the best materials and processes rather than relying on the existing large scale Asian or Italian manufactures, pushing away from over manufacturing, waste and towards a thoughtful zero-waste practice for eyewear.