For most people, traveling to – or living in – a tropical climate country, it is associated with very sunny weather and an accessory that’s a total ‘must-have’ in such a climate is sunglasses. Since the sunglasses you wear are probably the first thing anyone you meet is going to notice, then making a wise choice, both as a fashion statement and from a health point of view, is something you should consider with some great care.
There’s no doubt that the offer out there is wide and the combinations of colours, shapes and prices vary to a large extent. But how can you stand out in the crowd when everyone shops at the same mall? How about you consider trying wooden framed sunglasses instead?
Quite often, our first contact with a new brand is through its name. This might as well be the case with Jackagee, the name of a fairly new Thai brand that sells hand-made wooden framed sunglasses and leather wallets. The name is a combination of the owner’s nickname, Jack, and the Thai word “jakgajee” which means “ticklish.” Jackagee is thus a brand for young people who enjoy life and value the craftsmanship of a well-designed and perfectly executed product.
There are only four people in the entire Kingdom of Thailand who make wooden framed sunglasses and one of them is Ekasak Chuenchob, a young entrepreneur who is also known to his friends as “Jack.” His first business venture in the fashion industry was designing leather wallets which he then outsourced for production to various craftsmen who specialized in working with leather. But that was only the beginning!
“Although selling wallets via Facebook was relatively good business, I had to find a better additional source of income,” answered Jack when asked about how he had started his wooden framed sunglasses business venture. As a freelance advertising executive and with companies shrinking their traditional advertising budgets year by year, Ekasak Chuenchob realized that he had to find other means of income in order to financially secure his future.
“I love sunglasses. I wear sunglasses everywhere. I have over twenty pairs of sunglasses from very expensive ones to very cheap ones, including vintage designs and modern designs,” he admitted. “So, why not try to make my own?”
As an avid sportsman, Jack plays golf regularly and he is also a competing archer in the Thailand tournament circuit. He thus understands perfectly well the importance of hard training, passion, dedication and devotion. “If you love something, you’ll do all you can in order to succeed. You must believe in yourself,” Jack confessed when he started talking about the difficulties he had encountered while making the first pair of wooden framed sunglasses.
At first he knew nothing about carving, carpeting, and optics, but that wasn’t something of an obstacle that stood in his way. “I gave myself a timeframe of one year and a half to learn the ins-and-outs of the production process. I reached my goal two months earlier” than he had expected, Jack explained.
“My first teacher was Google and my second teacher was YouTube!” joked Jack. He gathered information from every website that offered tips on how to make your own things. He took notes, called local experts, and even visited Thai carpenters in their own workshops to learn the secrets of the trade. Through constant trial and error and after hundreds of hours spent testing the techniques he had learned, Jack managed to make his first pair of wooden framed sunglasses.
Since then, he has hand-made over 150 pairs of sunglasses and has invested a large amount of money in the equipment needed to cut the wood, curve the frames of the sunglasses and engrave his brand on the side. He experienced with various lens types until he had eventually discovered the right plastic to match the chosen wood and was then able to make it durable enough to survive everyday handling without breaking.
Once he had created a few pairs of sunglasses with which he was very happy with, it was then the time for him to sell his product. “My first customers were friends and acquaintances who found out about my work via Facebook. Then people started talking about Jackagee, my brand, and sales picked up.”
Jack is now working hard on promoting his brand and he even thinks of expanding further into the Japanese market where such products are highly valued.
A pair of his wooden framed sunglasses costs 5,500 baht and can be ordered either via Facebook (search for “Jackagee Wallet”) or directly from Jack (call 081-850-5560). You can also see more photos of Jack’s wallets and wooden framed sunglasses on Instagram. If you’re downtown Bangkok and would like to try them on before you make up your mind, it would be best to visit Tokyo Bike on Ari Soi 2 or Burgundy Dipper Shop at MRT Pahonyothin Station to personally experience the adventure!
Photography by Jojit Pangilinan
A much shorter version of this article was initially published in Mango Metro (October 2014, Vol.8, No.11)
