Greeks Do It Better: Xylo Eyewear

Turn on the TV in Greece and you hear a lot of bitching and moaning about failing banks, rising taxes, salary cuts and all things miserable.  I chose long ago to turn the TV off.  Yes, Greece is in a deep economic depression.  I don’t need to be reminded of that fact constantly.  And despite what mainstream media might have you think, there are a lot of creative young people making all sorts of wonderful things happen.  Seemingly impossible things, in fact.

Take Perikles Therrios and Eleni Vakondiou for example.  Instead of sitting around complaining about the lack of jobs in Greece or trying to find a way to leave, these two young Greeks from Syros, an island in the middle of the Aegean Sea, came together to create Xylo Eyewear.  They make handcrafted wooden sunglasses that are pretty amazing (‘xylo’ is Greek for ‘wood’, by the way).  Have a look for yourself…

How’d they get started in the midst of a failing economy, you might ask?  The idea came to them one fine morning—like so many ideas do (and are, unfortunately, promptly abandoned).  The creative spark was so strong, they simply had to follow through.  And they didn’t have buckets full of money or trust funds from their parents.  They turned to crowdfunding through indiegogo to fund their dream.  And they’re making it happen.  Pretty inspiring, if you ask me.  Check out their campaign video and then, if you want to help them achieve their dream (and/or just want a cool pair of unique, handmade wooden sunglasses) check out their page on indiegogo.

Until soon,

E