In a sea of sunglasses brands, there is one brand that stands out for paying more than lip service to their environmental claims. Costa Sunglasses took the leap of faith to try something audacious with their Untangled line.
By taking something useless, even harmful – used and worthless fishing nets and converting them into the material for their frames they show all of us how to think out of the box and do something important for the environment. Over 600,000 tons of fishing net is discarded into the sea each year. Costa partnered with Bureo to acquire as much of this fishing line as possible to create the Untangled line
We were fortunate enough 2 years ago to test some of the other Untangled sunglasses. This year Costa sent me the all-new Santiagos Black Net. Built for those who love being on the water Costa has always been a top choice for everyone from professional fisherman to my father when he’s driving his boat up in McCall. With Polarized 580G blue mirror lenses, vented and grippy Hydrolite nose pads to minimize foggin. and top and side shields keep light leakage to a minimum. I used these most of the summer on the water and have never tried a better pair of sunglasses on high-glare days.
The matte finish of the Net Black frames gives it a distinctive, masculine look and they have the optical performance that rivals anyone in the space, but what I love is the frames. Granted they are a bit heavier than many others but when I feel the heft and density of the Black Net frames I think of the mass of used fishing lines that are compressed to create those frames and feel a connection to what Costa has done with the Untangled series. With the heft comes a nearly unbearable frame and if anyone can break a pair of sunglasses it’s me but I can tell you these things are nearly indestructible. I love the new Costa Santaiagos, they have become my first pick anytime I’m out on the water, in fact even when I’m not on the water they seem to be the first pair of sunglasses I grab.