FINDING THE PERFECT FIT
Reminiscent of a Japanese garden, the interior of Covry eyewear in Costa Mesa, California, is lush with greenery and features rough-hewn stone counters, warm wood, and organic curves. Co-founder Florence Shin wanted Covry’s first brick-and-mortar location to evoke the sheltered cove that inspired their moniker.
“People say it feels like a spa.”—Florence SHin
Covry has found a strong market in this SoCal town since opening in 2023—cultivated via empowering in-store events including yoga and sound baths, panels with local merchants, and morning walks in neighboring Newport Bay Nature Preserve, where “our community can come and grow together.”
After college, Shin and high school pal Athina Wang reconnected in NYC’s Garment District. Both had grown up wearing glasses but could never find a pair that fit comfortably. Working in fashion, they saw everything from belts to rings in a wide range of sizes. Why not eyewear?
“Our faces are so unique and beautiful, but there was one standard fit for glasses. We thought there was something we could do about that,” Shin says.
Both women have low nose bridges and high cheekbones, causing most eyewear to slide down, resting on their cheeks. They identified three areas to improve upon. First, they added longer nose pads, so frames would sit higher on their nose. Next, they straightened the frames so they wouldn’t dig into their cheeks. Finally, they narrowed the bridge to fit snugly. They dubbed the result Elevated Fit. It was ideal for not only Asian faces, but anyone with a smaller nose, high cheeks, and long lashes.
Eyewear is a highly technical product, involving many steps to create a single pair. Working with a team of 40 skilled artisans, Covry makes frames precisely molded, cut, polished, lasered, and assembled in limited-run batches.
They began by selling sunglasses online. Now Covry features 60 styles of sunglasses and eyeglasses at accessible price points from $105. The website offers an online fit quiz to narrow down recommendations, plus a virtual try-on tool. And because fit is crucial, Covry mails five frames for each order, which helps customers feel confident in their purchases.
“The real goal is to offer a more humanized interaction,” says Shin. To that end, they created The Blue Room, an area of the store where shoppers can get complimentary style consultations. That proved to be eye-opening for both customers and Covry’s founders.
“A lot of people didn’t even realize their frames weren’t fitting, because they’re used to just pushing their glasses back up their noses every few minutes,” Shin says. “Getting people to try on our glasses was that magical ‘a-ha’ moment of, ‘This is how glasses are supposed to fit.’ We get letters from people saying they’ve never had frames fit so well; that they finally feel seen through our eyeglasses.”
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