State Optical

Scott Shapiro and Jerry Wolowicz, executives at a family-owned eyewear company, wanted to build the world’s first true luxury eyewear made entirely in America. Cousins Marc Franchi and Jason Stanley were independently building their own manufacturing line in California when the four crossed paths and joined forces.

Almost none of the equipment or skills they needed existed in the US anymore — they had to import and rewire machinery themselves and train a workforce from scratch. Every frame is still hand-finished by dozens of craftspeople in their Chicago-area factory, and every style is named after a Chicago street, with 21 precision-drilled holes as a nod to Illinois being the 21st state.

Part of our directory of independent eyewear. What’s in our collection is always changing, so ask us what’s in the boutique now.