Emilia Lindmark from EOE Eyewear - with an eye for the circular

More than fifteen years have passed since the snowmobile ride on the bare mountain in Ammarnäs, where the couple Emilia and Erik Lindmark began to seriously formulate the idea behind EOE Eyewear. Today, they continue to create eyewear inspired by the north - and change the entire industry from within.

In a secret location in Västerbotten, a machine is chewing up old glasses. Metal parts are sorted out and the acetate frames are ground down into small irregular pieces. These are raw materials that are pressed together under high pressure and heat into discs to create new frames. The patented business is run by Regrind since 2022, a subsidiary of EOE Eyewear, founded by Emilia and Erik Lindmark in 2010.

In a secret location in Västerbotten, old spectacle frames are ground down into pieces of acetate that are pressed together into a material to make new spectacles.

The couple met at Umeå Business School and immediately started dreaming together. About starting a business together and also about starting a family. Ammarnäs became their place on earth. Not to live in, but to return to. Last Easter they were there, the whole gang, now with a third child in the family, Australian Labradoodle puppy Lovisa.

- When you get there, it feels like taking off your rucksack, it's very nice," says Emilia Lindmark via screen from her office in Stockholm.

That's where they live now. But Norrland, especially the nature on the Norwegian border and also Umeå with its creative energy, is always close in mind and also plays the main role in the company's branding.

They draw inspiration for their design concepts from the north, but also from the natural materials used in their bows: stone, birch and reindeer horn. Last Easter, a reindeer herder they know brought them a new batch of antlers.

Glasses created with Regrind bioacetate, with reindeer horn details.

But Ammarnäs also reminds us of another aspect.

- Climate change is particularly evident there.

Working in the most environmentally friendly way possible has been the basic idea of EOE Eyewear right from the start. Something that stuck out early on, during sales trips to opticians around the country, was the piles of old frames that were going to the dump.

If the EOE was serious about working with nature instead of against it, then something needs to be done. But how much help is it to work in a circular way yourself? The industry needs to change fundamentally. Hence the demanding and risky investment in Regrind.

- "We thought a lot about it, because this is an area far from our usual business - and patents cost money," says Emilia.

The relief was therefore enormous when the venture got its wings. 2024 one could read in Scandinavian Vogue about the sunglasses collaboration with Balenciaga. Today, Regrind is utilised by several major customers around the world, including a chain of opticians in Germany and the Netherlands, whose discarded frames are used for new collections designed by EOE Eyewear.

Emilia notes that it is the material production that has by far the greatest growth potential, compared to traditional eyewear sales. A proper factory will be built eventually, with an official address. For now, the machine can chug along in peace and quiet, in its secret location. There is a lot of interest in the industry, and there are reasons not to publicise either the location or the process too much.

At EOE Eyewear's flagship store on Mäster Samuelsgatan, customers can return their old glasses for reuse.

But it is still the design company that gives Emilia the greatest joy. Not least the employer part, seeing employees feeling good and making a good living thanks to the company. She enjoys letting the business grow organically, without having to get lost in work.

When she thinks back to the snowmobile trips she and Erik made in the mountains more than fifteen years ago, she feels proud.

- We did what we said we would do. What we intended to do happened.

Text: Hanna Kangassalo

Emilia Lindmark's advice for those who are also building a creative business:

Dare to start from yourself! In an age where we are constantly fed with global trends and the success stories of others, it is easy to lose sight of your own direction. Building a business is not a shortcut to quick money, but a long-term craft. So start from how you want to live your life, not just what you want to achieve. A business is essentially an extension of your lifestyle.