Being different allows for new beginnings. If I never desired to be different I would have never discovered DUSK. It began when I started working in eyewear with Illesteva, I begged them for a job. We committed to three months and I stayed for six years. S/O Austyn for hooking that up.
I grew up vacuuming my dads store as a child, looking up into all the showcases that housed beautiful spectacles of all different shapes and sizes. Lighting was prime and it was almost like that one spotlight shining onto the dancer at the local GO-GO bar, except it was eyeglasses and sunglasses. I looked up to these things, yet knew knowing about it until I was able to comprehend.. shortly after I got bored of vacuuming all day.
I never liked working with my dad or at his store as I grew older, we just didn’t mesh like that. Mostly due to the fact that the Optical industry is old school AFFFF. A few weeks into my trial run with illesteva, I got my first personal pair of Illesteva frames, I was so stoked. I got these sunglasses that no one knew anything about and I was able to tell a story. I love story telling. I liked them but I wanted to make them better and down the rabbit hole I went. It was simple, everything clicked, my love for fashion and design through a pair of spectacles. I always wanted to be in fashion and I always wanted to be an architect. Through my father, I was connected with a really small lab in Hialeah, FL. For those of you who don’t know Hialeah, It’s like Cuba but never was communist.
I had to improve my Spanish and I had to get these guys to trust me, the gringo. It was the only lab that would allow me work with them since most optical labs work with real businesses, not 21 year old kids. This place was my dads emergency lab when he needed jobs done in a day, MIA-LAB always made it happen. Before I could realize what I was doing, I had 10 custom made frames that I LOVED. I wore them all day, indoor and outdoor, they became a part of me. I had all different colors and different percentages of tint making the lens darker or lighter. I also never wore a pair two days in a row :). That’s eyewear, its not about having 1, it’s about building a closet just like your clothes and shoes. There are different looks to every occasion and different moods you may be feeling, which brings me to my next point.
COLOR THERAPY is a real thing. Its called Chromotherapy and its fucking radical. Mood and colors are completely related, they both speak together. I'm no scientist, but the internet says that “chromotherapy is the science of using colors to adjust body vibrations to frequencies that result in health and harmony. Each color possesses frequencies of a specific vibration, and each vibration is related to different physical parts of the body.”
Our bodies need the suns light to live? My mood reflects my environment, especially the weather. When it rains, nothing sounds better than being cozy inside. Im not motived, Im not happy and I’m definitely not productive.
I'm slow but smart and it took me several storms to realize what was happening. I was wearing my tinted lenses all day and I was getting a Komodo at this place called Purple Lotus on South point. They got these nice cushioned chairs outside next to the front door that I was sitting and sipping on.
I took off my glasses and my mood changed in the blink of an eye. I was chillin, waiting for the rain to slow down and what was a beautiful hue of purple quickly turned into a scary grey/black. Believe it or not, the purple dusk lenses actually made it look like it was a sun shower outside. The purple tint brightened up all surrounding color. It also made me feel warm and comforted with the purple tint. While purple is sometimes seen as exotic, regal or soothing, to me it fuels my imagination. Because while my subconscious is cool, calm and collected, my conscious mind is clear.
That was a long explanation to dusk….It goes WAY more in detail
online.
The dusk collection is custom made and made to order. I wanted to offer that option because everyone deserves to feel good. We partnered with a in New York lab that grinds, tints and edges our lenses when ordered. Turn around is about a week.Dusk frames are those frames you pull out when you take off your sunglasses. When the sun is setting, when it’s dusk out. These are frames perfect for that occasion and into the night. You’ll even see a little glow in the night time. Your visual clarity at its peak.
The colors are preset for both Shiprock and Crazy Horse. We’ve chosen, sapphire blue on Tortoise. Inspired by the Japanese, they’re all wearing this color lens right now. Purple Amethyst on Black and my favorite camel brown on the Saguaro colorway. Check out the new collection, get yourself a pair and stop playing yourself. Follow us in insta
@tejesta too and tag us
#SeeForYourself.
Love
J