For the one in twelve men (and one in two hundred women) who suffer from color blindness, online eyeglasses retailer Frameri is partnering with color-enhancing lens manufacturer EnChroma to create the first fashion eyewear collection for the color blind.
Frameri launched last summer with the hypothesis that people who wear glasses regularly get tired of wearing the same pair all the time. Designer frames are expensive, and so are the prescription lenses you have to buy for them. So why not make the lenses and frames interchangeable, so you can mix and match your frames with both eyeglass and sunglass lenses?
So far, it seems like they’re onto something. In the past year, the company has sold eyeglasses to thousands of customers, and reports that 70 percent of customers have purchased multiple frames and lenses. The site currently offers 740 eyewear combinations, with the lenses and the frames starting at $100 each.
All Frameri lenses are coated with a hard polymer to prevent them from breaking or scratching when you’re snapping them in and out of place.
EnChroma lenses enable red-green color blind people to see color by blocking out some of the light in the color spectrum, essentially reshaping the way the eyes respond to light. Recent research suggests that wearing the glasses may even able to permanently improve a person’s color recognition.
Frameri is charging a hefty $425 bucks for a pair of EnChroma lenses in a Frameri frame, with an additional $150 fee to upgrade to EnChroma prescription lenses. But if that’s the difference between seeing traffic lights and being able to drive, or not… it’s probably worth it.