Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 40 years, you should be comfortably certain that American manufacturing is on its way out. Seemingly every industry — from automakers to denim mills — has experienced a decline in the past couple decades. An outlier is the eyewear industry, which, until very recently, was almost nonexistent in the States. A few holdouts like Randolph Engineering and Shuron eyewear guaranteed the industry didn’t vanish in the latter half of the 20th century, and in the past few years, a new crop of brands — State Optical Co., Dom Vetro and Lowercase NYC — have begun offering American-made acetate frames. If you’re looking to buy local, read up on these brands before investing in a new pair of shades.
State Optical Co.
Dom Vetro
