Greenwich Social Club brings sustainable luxury to eyewear
- Nov 20
- 3 min read
By Jane McLeod
One of Sophia Chiang’s core childhood memories revolves around dutifully following her grandmother through cavernous warehouses in Guangzhou, one of China’s largest port cities. At the time she didn’t understand why people were buzzing past everywhere in a hurried rush, nor the conversations taking place, but she understood one thing: someone was being very unfair, no one was happy about it, but no one could do anything about it. Why, she wasn’t exactly sure.
Only as an adult did she really start piecing the puzzle together. At university, she studied global trade imbalances and her research landed her a coveted investment banking job where she worked with some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Used to complexity in her role, she was perplexed, in particular, by the outdated eyewear industry. Every one to two years, she dutifully made her way down to the opticians’ to get her eyes checked, a process which typically left her with a sense of frustration, a new pair of glasses she was more or less indifferent to and her wallet $500 lighter.
One thing about the process that particularly frustrated her was how somehow $150 advertised frames ended up costing $500 at checkout. There were so many opaque and hidden costs, and she was never sure what add-ons were necessary or not.
She set out to investigate if a fairer alternative could exist. Returning home to Guangzhou, she enlisted her grandmother’s help and found supporters of her cause at independent eyewear manufacturers. Learning the fundamentals of design and craftsmanship alongside them, she went back to London, imbued with new knowledge of the eyewear industry, and founded Greenwich Social Club. The brand has quickly become loved by stylish urban women who are short on time but certainly not style.
With in house design and use of deadstock materials, as well as leveraging her manufacturer relationships, Greenwich Social Club delivers luxury handcrafted eyewear at a competitive, fair price. From vintage inspired chunky acetates to minimalist titanium rounds, the brand takes familiar forms and imbues them with a fresh, modern edge, with London as the inspirational background. The inaugural collection focuses on ‘capsule’ eyewear that wearers can wear confidently anywhere from boardrooms to brunch, acting as a fundamental wardrobe block from which stylish women can be re-inspired by their wardrobes.
In the process of founding the business, Sophia also realised how important sustainability is as a core value. It is estimated over four million pairs of glasses are thrown into landfills every year in North America alone. In an effort to change this, Sophia also set up a recycling program for all Greenwich Social Club eyewear - wearers can return their used pairs back to the brand in return for a 15% discount off their next pair, which Sophia terms a sustainability discount.
“I always felt frustrated by the options and the price offered for glasses at traditional opticians’, and I thought we could lead by example for the rest of the industry, offering luxury quality products at fair prices while also placing transparency and sustainability at the forefront of our business model,” says Sophia. “Our model is absolutely atypical for the industry, but that’s exactly the kind of ethical business we want to be.”
Greenwich Social Club is headquartered in London however the brand have recently opened up two US domestic fulfilment centers in New Jersey and California. US based customers will not be subject to any additional tariffs or duties on their eyewear orders. Shipping costs $12 or is free for orders above $200 in value.
Thoughtfully designed, sustainably made, and fairly priced, Greenwich Social Club represents the next generation of truly affordable luxury eyewear created for those who care about quality, transparency, and purposeful design. Prices start at $105 for glasses and $120 for sunglasses at www.greenwichsocialclub.com.
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