Ombraz Founders Talk Armless Shades & Revolutionizing the Sunglass Experience

Attention to detail and artisan craftmanship are two core pillars of the Ombraz brand, founded by Jensen Brehm and Nikolai Paloni. Photo courtesy Ombraz

Ever since I can remember, I’ve had three pain points with sunglasses, regardless of the brand, how much they cost, and their overall look. 

First, they break. No matter how much I pay for a pair of sunglasses, they end up breaking one way or the other.

Second, I lose them. Despite my best efforts to keep them in sight, they disappear.

And third, I eventually get tired of their design and want a new look. 

As it turns out, I’m not the only one who’s had these pain points. Jensen Brehm and Nikolai Paloni did too, and created a solution: Ombraz, a company that produces high-quality armless sunglasses.

If you didn't already know, let us introduce you to armless sunglasses. Photo courtesy Ombraz

Armless sunglasses? The concept sounded odd to me.

But when I tried on a pair, everything made sense — and all my pain points went away.

First, the cord, which is in place of the sunglass arms, is practically unbreakable.

Second, you can let them rest on your neck so you don’t lose them.

Third, their timeless look with an Italian vintage feel is something that I know I won’t get tired of. 

I’m fully convinced that if a pair of Ombraz can solve my pain points, they can solve yours. Because of this, not only did we place them at the top of our Best Sunglasses Reviewed article — we wanted to talk to them about how they revolutionized the sunglasses market, especially for those of us who are in the salty and sandy elements often.

We chatted with Jensen and Nikolai about how they have re-imagined the sunglass experience with attention to detail, craftsmanship and a cord, and how they’ve planted 2 million trees along the way. — Cash Lambert

ASM: Talk to us about how Ombraz began — and we heard it started with you riding a camel, Jensen. 

Jensen: I was backpacking through India for a year during college, and I did this camel safari in the desert. I had just bought this new pair of sunglasses. This is something I rarely did, because sunglasses always frustrated me … they pinched my head, slid down my nose because I have a smaller head, and I always eventually lost them … anyways, 2 hours into this camel safari, someone sat on them, and the sidearms broke off. 

I thought to myself ‘that’s classic, because that’s always what happens with me and sunglasses’, but in the desert, I needed them.

I tied a piece of string around the broken hinges, wrapped the string around the back of my head and wore them like that for 4 days racing camels on this on this expedition.

After the 4 day trip, I realized that I wore them more than a usual pair of sunglasses, because this pair wasn’t pinching my head. I could wear them all day without feeling any pressure or tenderness. I could drop them around my neck when I didn’t want them on, too. They weren’t slipping down and falling off my nose, either.

I eventually replaced the string with a leather cord, and wore this Macgyvered pair for the next 5 years. They were practical and made sense for my lifestyle, and Nikolai, my friend from college, loved the concept too. Friends would ask us to make them a pair, and then strangers who noticed them did the same.

I started to realize this product solved a problem, served a purpose, and Nikolai and I teamed up to start Ombraz. 

We launched an Indigogo campaign in 2018, and raised a quarter of a million dollars in pre-orders. We had 3,000 pairs pre-ordered before the product was even ready. 

Nikolai: We had to fulfill all the orders, and at the same time, we wanted it to feel like an artisan, hand made and quality product from the first batch.

From a few thousand orders from a crowdfunding campaign to over a hundred thousand pairs sold. Photo courtesy Ombraz

Jensen: In that first order, all of them were hand sewn by Nikolai. It was this 60 step process on each side that we had to do 4 times over, and it was 400,000 individual steps to make the pairs — it was insane. 

Nikolai: We needed help, so we had friends help us, even Jensen’s grandma. At one point we went to Home Depot and found some guys that were looking for work, and hired them, and would feed them home cooked meals, they were stoked.

It was an all hands on deck, classic effort. 

Talk about the cord componet: what was that process like?

Jensen: We visited 7 or 8 cord manufactures in China looking for the right one. One day, I tried on these Italian boots, and I felt the cord in my hand and thought it’d be great for what we were looking for, so we reached out to the brand and bought as many as we could.

They were cotton, so we needed to waterproof them. Nikolai and I would warm them up in my oven and bake them with cedar beeswax.

Over time, we realized cotton wasn’t right for us in terms of longevity and waterproofness, so we switched to a different type of cord that is waterproof and durable. With that first batch, they were hand sewn, baked in wax in our oven, and I think that really resonated with a lot of people, because it showed the amount of detail and love we were putting into each product, which is really the ethos of Ombraz.

If you haven't tried a pair of armless sunglasses before, here's the good news: putting them on is simpler than you think. Video courtesy Ombraz

As brands grow, they tend to change direction to other product lines, but 7 years later, you guys are still laser focused on armless sunglasses. 

Jensen: People have told us we should do t-shirts, backpacks, etc. But armless sunglasses have been our focus. And there's so much potential that we still haven't tapped. Everyone wears sunglasses, everyone likes to be active outside, and everyone would benefit from having a pair of Ombraz in their life at some point whether they're traveling, on a run, or headed to the beach. Wearing a pair of Ombraz will give you a better experience at whatever you're doing.

We’ve been dialing in our catalog of armless sunglasses and continuing to solve key problems that our customers have to make a better product instead of trying to do everything.

There's no doubt about it: Ombraz are beach approved. Photo courtesy Ombraz

Jensen: There’s this capitalistic societal pressure to grow at all costs, and that's not our game plan. Our game plan is to like make the best pair of armless sunglasses that we can.

Nikolai: And yeah, like Jensen said, there's still a lot of potential, because a lot of people have never heard of armless sunglasses. Many people tend to be skeptical of new things, especially when you've worn sunglasses with arm screws and hinges your entire life. Aside from focusing on our product, we're trying to educate as many as we can about how armless sunglasses can be a better experience for you no matter what you're doing.

We're doing a pop-up shop in Boulder, and I've met people who have never heard of us, yet they try on our product and love it immediately. I had a woman the other day tell me she's going to use them when she gardens, and older women gardening isn't our initial target market, but it speaks to the fact that this isn't just a brand, it's a solution to a problem that a lot of people have ... they may just not realize it.

Everyone has broken a pair of sunglasses before, everyone has felt that pinch on the sides of their head, everyone has felt sunglasses slip down their face when they're doing something, so Ombraz are really applicable to everyone — even if you're not an avid outdoors person.

Jensen: Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, once said there's 7 billion pairs of feet in the world, and that's 7 billion potential customers. It's the same with sunglasses: there's 7 billion sets of eyes that need sunglasses that don't break, don't fall off., and protect your eyes in the elements.

Ombraz offers a lifetime warranty. Not many brands offer that — why is that something important to you?

Nikolai: There can be a lot of barriers to buying a pair of sunglasses or anything really online. If someone is thinking about their quality, like “what if these break”, well, Ombraz are warrantied for life, so that barrier is removed. We have free shipping, free returns, and free exchange. So these are all barriers that might make someone not try these out after seeing them online. 

The thing is, on our end of the business, we’ve only seen our warranty used for like 500 or 600 pairs out of 100,000 we’ve sold because they are built to last. We know they’re durable because we built it ourselves, and we’re not chasing dollars; we’re chasing creating a quality product.

The few times that people have reached out to fulfill the warranty, I’m not mad, I’m actually impressed and want to hear their story, because it’s really hard to break them. 

Jensen and Nikolai vouch for Ombraz quality because not only did they make them; they personally wear them and put them to the test. Photo courtesy Ombraz

You guys plant 20 mangrove trees for each pair of Ombraz sunglasses sold, and since 2018, you've planted 2 million trees. Talk to us about why this has been important for you. 

Jensen: We’re really proud of it. From a business perspective, it hasn’t been the most economical decision, it’s been an expensive endeavor, but it makes us proud that we’re driving a net benefit impact. 

If every brand had that same intention, we’d be in a much different place as a society. We’re really proud to lead the way. Two or 2.5 percent of our revenue goes to tree planting efforts, which is double the industry average of 1% for the planet. So we’re doubling our impact, and I think it resonates with our customers. I think people want to be a part of brands that operate with that kind of mentally. 

Nikolai: And that net benefit Jensen talked about is in the product too, because what we’re making doesn’t break, they’re built to last, we're working with people and suppliers who share our mentality, so we’re creating a net benefit through our operations as well. 

Side shield lovers, rejoice: Ombraz offers those too. Photo courtesy Ombraz

What’s next for you guys and Ombraz as a whole?

Jensen: We’re announcing a big milestone that our entire collection is coming out of China and will be instead made in Italy, which is known for its craftsmanship and attention to detail. Ombraz means shade in Italian, so this really brings everything full circle for us. 

Nikolai: There’s a lot coming. We have a new pair of frames that are in development, frames that solve a purpose for people who do activity uphill in sweaty environments. We’re also working to create a frame just for fisherman that address a lot of the things that have frustrated them about eyewear for a long time. And we have a pop-up going on in Boulder, Colorado, so that people who have seen us online or maybe never seen us before can meet us and try our product. 

We want to be accessible to people that want to try on a pair of these and see how they feel, because that's where the aha moment happens. I've personally seen skeptics become huge advocates because they realize how well a pair of Ombraz work.

American Surf Mag approved: Ombraz are perfect surf and beach shades. Photo courtesy Ombraz

Nikolai: That's why we encourage any skeptics of the concept to try on a pair and see what you think. If you've ever broken a pair of sunglasses, if you've ever lost a pair of sunglasses, or you're looking for something new to what you've always worn, try Ombraz. Worst case scenario, you can send them back and say you don't like them, or, like many times I've seen, you may become an advocate and join the armless sunglasses movement.

Get your pair of Ombraz armless sunglasses visiting their site.