TOMS shoes expands into sunglasses - and improving eyesight

Shoes were apparently just the first step. TOMS shoes, the company that catapulted to fame for giving away free footwear for every pair it sells, is now in the sunglass game.

The brand launched a new line of retro-styled frames this month. Expanding its “one-for-one” mission, for every pair of sunglasses sold, the philanthropic for-profit will provide prescription eyeglasses, sight-saving medical treatment or surgery to a person who needs it.

The eye care — targeted initially for Nepal, Tibet and Cambodia — will be administered by the Seva Foundation, a northern California-based group that “has been implementing sustainable blindness prevention and sight restoration programs for over 30 years,” according to the company.

The new $135 to $145 sunglass frames, made in Italy, come in three models: a wayfarer, an over-sized round-eye model and an aviator, each with various color options. All of the designs have thre, hand-painted stripes on the temples, representing the purchaser, the company and the eye-care recipient. Locally, Massey’s stores, which sell Toms shoes, will carry the sunglasses.

“If it’s anything like the shoe phenomenon, then it will be huge,” said Massey’s general manager Gerry Fullington. Indeed, TOMS has a passionate fan club. The Los Angeles Times reported that more than 1,000 people turned out on a Tuesday for the sunglass launch at the California Heritage Museum, with radio stations live broadcasting the event.

Though TOMS would not release sales figures, a spokeswoman said two of the sunglass designs already sold out online.

TOMS was founded five years ago by Austin-native Blake Mycoskie with an unusual business model: to merge a charitable mission with for-profit motive. To date, the company has given away more than 1 million pairs of shoes.

The concept has rocketed Mycoskie to rock-star-like fame and made him the poster child of the growing social entrepreneurship movement. Popular particularly with recent college graduates, hundreds of small businesses — from Falling Whistle necklaces to the New Orleans-based FeelGoodz flip flops — have been inspired by the TOMS model of corporate and community collaboration.

New Orleans jewelry designer Thomas Mann even created a little pewter pendant, which is sold on the TOMS Web site to help support its work.

Mycoskie has visited New Orleans several times, and did a “shoe drop” here in 2009, where he gave away 2,000 pairs of white, canvas shoes to youngsters at five local elementary schools.

During that stop in New Orleans, Mycoskie said he envisioned the company expanding its mission.

“Ever since 2007, I’ve realized the TOMS One for One model could do more than give shoes — it could and should address other needs around the world,” Mycoskie said in a press release this month. “Sight is a fundamental need. The loss of sight has a dramatic impact on a person’s life — and on his or her family and community.”