Robinson also pointed out that his sunglasses appeal to people who are earth- and eco-friendly, because they use what he called "ethically sourced wood" — meaning it wasn't chopped down in an endangered forest.
Robinson's company's name is a throwback to his early days of designing, when people would take his sunglasses off his head to try them on. "People really desired them and I was really influenced by European fashion, so I put a twist on it, called it DESIAR," he said.
Robinson has been making custom sunglasses since his freshman year at the University of Central Florida. He left Florida in 2008 to return to Indiana, where he made his sunglasses on a kitchen table, but never gave up his dream of starting his own business.
That dream came true when he founded DESIAR in Fort Wayne in 2011. Robinson says the company, which employs 3, is the first to manufacture eyewear in Indiana.
His "Hoosier" sunglass made in Huntertown, Ind., sports an all-wood frame utilizing cherry wood harvested from a farm on the East Coast. It retails for $125 and is the first product in the #MadeInIndiana line.His sunglasses have a unique look. Most are made of wood and acetate and are manufactured overseas. But his recently launched #MadeInIndiana collection is made right in the Summit City.
"I'm always trying to think of what type of materials can we use that are out of the norm," Robinson said. "Wood's a really cool medium."
