We love the concept of building your own bespoke spectacles, which is what we’ve found with Feb31st, an Italian brand dedicated to making unique handcrafted wooden eyewear that’s lightweight, durable, and super trendy.

FEB31st is a family-owned and run company based in Italy. They started life a few generations back making the wooden handles for shaving brushes, before eventually switching to baseball bats. As you can imagine, these went down extremely well in America and they eventually sold this part of the company to an American firm.

After branching out into the eyewear design market, in 2011 their first-ever collection made its debut. And just two years later, FEB31st won Frame of the Year at the 2013 Optician Awards. It was a remarkable achievement for a fledgling company determined to make a name for itself in the oversaturated eyewear market.

FEB31st frames are carved from sustainable wood. Weighing in at just 21g and available in 43 different colours, each frame is comprised of 13 different layers. The colour sandwich combinations are unlimited, which makes each frame completely unique and personal. Using what FEB31st calls flexy soul technology (yes really!) the layers are carefully pressed together with two thin layers of a secret flexible fibre, to ensure structure and flexibility. The process enhances the natural qualities of the wood and creates a lightweight but surprisingly strong frame. FEB31st frames are actually the thinnest and strongest frames in the wooden eyewear market.

The idea behind FEB31st is to respect nature and human ingenuity, combining both to produce eco-friendly luxury wooden eyewear that is attractive and comfortable to wear. Frames are made from certified FSC ecologically harvested kauri and bolivar wood. Everything the company produces is made to order, and because there are no wasted materials the environmental impact is minimal.

If you’re looking for eyewear that is truly bespoke and unique, FEB31st ticks those boxes. Not only can you personalise the colours of the different layers, but you can also engrave a name, logo, or even a message on the inside or outside of the frame. Once you have designed your bespoke FEB31st frame, your eyewear will be sent to Italy to be custom-made in their factory.

Wooden frames have an intrinsic charm and in the increasingly popular wooden eyewear market, FEB31st has delivered a beautiful product that stands out from other wooden eyewear brands.

As for their name… well the founders were told wooden frames weren’t possible. Just like February 31st, they didn’t exist. So the name seemed to be the perfect fit.

“The simple things are difficult to make – this is the challenge of my work.”

Kathrin Schuster, FEB31st designer.