We are particularly excited by this month’s We Heart. At Annmarie Skin Care, we offer the highest quality skin care available that is non-toxic and earth-loving, but we also know that skin care is just a fraction of the environmentally aware and deeply conscious way of living that you, our reader, needs, which is why we choose to share a brand, product, or business with you each month as a featured We Heart to help fill the gaps in our holistic lifestyles. So, without further ado, let us introduce: Karün Eyewear.

What Karün is…and isn’t.

Karün Eyewear is like no brand we’ve ever encountered. Every angle of their brand emphasizes seeing the world differently. From leading statements on their website being “we are not an eyewear company,” to the finished product being a pair of cool as heck glasses, Karün represents and embodies an entirely different way of functioning as a company; a different way of seeing the world. Karün is a brand that is working and listening directly with and within the Patagonian community to create a flow of circularity and regeneration using local raw materials to both foster the continued cultivation of local capital and recycle harmful waste. 

Karün means to be nature in the Mapuche language; ancestral indigenous culture from Chile and Karün Eyewear is committed to reminding themselves and the world that we are all nature. We are just one of the billions of species; trees, whales, owls, coyotes—humans are one among many. We are all part of the natural process that is life.

Karün cultivates a powerful connection with Patagonia by collaborating with local communities and inviting them to collect discarded materials from their territories that later will be converted into awesome eyewear. They believe that a natural environment with an empowered community and an economy that depends on the conservation of its surrounding is a place with a greater chance of being conserved. That's why with part of their income sales Karün is working with other partners to enhance the social capital of this Patagonian community.

Shailene Woodley participates in a Karün Eyewear cleanup

Their 3 part process

Karün has a thorough process for selecting their entrepreneurs, repurposing material, crafting stylish eyewear, and connecting with the environment. First, they deeply connect with potential Collecting Entrepreneurs or Artisans. If they seem to hold potential, Karün evaluates their business characteristics, their motivations, and job descriptions. Once they’ve passed this process, these Collecting Entrepreneurs collect raw materials such as fishing nets, ropes, metals, wood, pigments, or organic materials that are then turned into glasses. The income obtained by the collectors from the sale of waste or products is an impulse to strengthen other enterprises that develop their local communities. 

Next, the raw materials are made into glasses in the most sustainable way possible. Karün prioritizes neutralizing their carbon footprint and brings this intention and attention to everything from the materials used in the glasses, to the choice to use ships vs planes to transport product, to the way they encourage Karün glasses-wearers to surrender their glasses when they’ve reached the end in exchange for a discount on a new pair. 

Finally, Karün seeks to remain as fully integrated with nature as possible. Karün is working closely with their friends and partners at Balloon Latam, whose deep work aims to involve the local community in its sustainable development and in the protection of their natural environment -The Cochamó and Puelo River Valley- through the deep connection and close work with entrepreneurs and local leaders from the territory. Karün is funding a 4-year Program -developed by Balloon Latam- of collective action for sustainable development, that aims to enhance the social capital of the Commune of Cochamó through the network between people, collectives, and change-driven communities, to create development opportunities, get experience-based knowledge and generate a positive impact in these territories.

The Finished Product

Finally, Karün seeks to remain as fully integrated with nature as possible. Karün is working closely with their friends and partners at Balloon Latam, whose deep work aims to involve the local community in its sustainable development and in the protection of their natural environment -The Cochamó and Puelo River Valley- through the deep connection and close work with entrepreneurs and local leaders from the territory. Karün is funding a 4-year Program -developed by Balloon Latam- of collective action for sustainable development, that aims to enhance the social capital of the Commune of Cochamó through the network between people, collectives, and change-driven communities, to create development opportunities, get experience-based knowledge and generate a positive impact in these territories.