The Early Days
In the early days of Fitz, we spent a lot of time with friends who agreed to be our customers/guinea pigs. It was many hours of multiple sessions - measuring customers’ heads, faces, distance between pupils by hand, etc, with a tool called calipers (that I had zero experience with). We would then 3D print glasses for each face using these measurements, sit with the customer again to see how the glasses fit and make more changes to the frame dimensions, reprinting and meeting again as necessary. You can imagine the amount of patience this took from both parents and kids - we were really lucky to have so many willing participants. It was at times a tedious process, but when we saw what a difference custom tailored frames made to the people we were fitting, it really validated our mission and thrilled us to see the results in person.
The Impact of One Customer
One such customer was our friend Samuel. He had been a long time glasses wearer even as a young child. At the time, we were testing materials, as well as colors, to determine how our final products would look and feel. Sam had picked an electric blue (in the Roger Wilco style) that we were trying out. After weeks of measuring, printing and asking Samuel lots of questions during our fitting sessions, I got to see him try on his finished pair.
He seemed happy, but I wondered what he would say to his mom in private, if he would actually wear them, etc. A few days later, I received a photo of a beaming Samuel and a three word email from his mom - “He loves them” that brought tears to my eyes.
The Perfect Fitz Feel
After wearing them for a few weeks, I asked Samuel to show me how the glasses worked - his confidence was palpable as he popped the hinges out and in and slid the glasses back on his face. I’m a fan of helping kids feel like their best selves. I hope that’s true for how Samuel feels in his Fitz - in a style he chose, with the color he wanted, built to fit him perfectly - with his name inside to boot! This month, we picked a color as close to this electric blue as we could get. Royal Blue is our October color of the month as we’ve had many requests from those early customers (and our CEO) to bring it back. It’s a truly fun, vibrant color that I hope you love as much as we do.
Warmly,