Krewe

Stirling Barrett started Krewe at 24, taking the money he’d saved for a house deposit and using it to order his first couple thousand pairs of sunglasses instead. He’d sell them from a mobile cart at New Orleans festivals before the brand had a single storefront.

Every pair is still made in small batches from plant-based acetate, with design details borrowed directly from the city’s wrought-iron balconies and Mardi Gras spirit. Barrett also started the Krewe Foundation, which gives free prescription glasses to local students — a genuine act of putting money back into the city that shaped the brand.

Part of the wider world of independent eyewear — not necessarily something we carry, but always something we’re happy to talk about.