Men and women probably do make passes at people who use their sunglasses purchase to provide someone in the developing world with vision surgery, eye care, or glasses. Okay, the scansion needs a little work, but the point is that buy-one-give-one shoe company TOMS is expanding into eyewear, and the concept's pretty sexy, and so are the shades.
There are 284 million people in the world who are visually impaired, and at least 39 million who are blind. Most blindness-causing conditions are preventable or treatable, but many people can't afford the eye care they need, or the glasses that would let them function well with the degree of eyesight they have. That's rough on the individual, but what might be worse is the way it interferes with development — people who can't learn or work because of bad vision tend to stay poor, and their communities do too.
With the new TOMS concept, you get some frankly pretty snazzy sunnies, and someone who needs it gets glasses or ophthalmology, including vision-saving surgery, from the Seva Foundation. The shades start at $135, which is kind of a lot for sunglasses if you've been getting them at the dollar store, but compared to the vicious cycle of poverty it is pretty damn low-cost.
