It’s the story of a reconversion. That of Manon Février, who until then worked in the wine industry, and her companion Quentin Jamet, an engineer in industrial mechanics by training, and also the son of winegrowers.
Both left the Lyon region and the Rhône valley to join the Var in the summer of 2022 with an idea in mind suggested by their best friend, an optician by trade. “We said to ourselves why not make glasses, from end-of-life oak barrels from my parents’ estate”summarizes the co-founder of Borizonthe company they founded in Grimaud.
With their own funds, they financed a small workshop equipped with a few machines which allow the cutting of staves, these strips of wood which, once assembled, form barrels. It is from this noble material that the glasses arms will be cut and carefully polished. For the front, the couple chose castor oil and used a service provider who created ten different shapes using their 3D printer designs. “We offer three types of temples in three colors and six colors for the faces”, summarizes Manon Février. The duo works to order, with the possibility of choosing its color and shape.
Slow marketing
“Our goal is to go through opticians. We are already present in stores in Cogolin, Lavandou, Draguignan, Muy and Lyon”, add the entrepreneurs who are preparing to tour professionals to find new points of sale. Even if they wish to remain on an artisanal scale. Beyond aesthetics, the spirit of Borizon is a certain idea of consumption. “We want to do slow marketing by introducing ourselves to opticians. The idea is not to change glasses every year. We have carried out resistance tests.”
The fact of using only three raw materials, wood, metal for screws and castor, facilitates recycling. All in an average price range: between 220 and 280€ for the end customer. “We make around a hundred branches from a barrel that comes from a cooper in the Bordeaux region. For the moment, we only collect them from the Jean-Luc Jamet vineyard in the Rhône valley.”
Added to this is an eco-responsible approach. For each sale of glasses, Borizon’s partnership with the Tree Nation platform allows the planting of one to ten trees.
Already around a hundred pairs of glasses have been sold and the Ulule campaign, which runs until November 4, but whose objective of €3,000 has already been 140% reached, has made it possible to sell eighteen pairs.
“We also offer offcuts of staves to opticians to serve as a display, they are delighted. And have accepted the fact that we do not present our frames with fake lenses, which for us produces unnecessary waste.”
With these promising beginnings, Borizon already has projects in its sights, such as a junior range. But also to help plant between 3,000 and 6,000 trees by 2028.