ORIGIN STORY

When Brooklyn-born Nick Rozar visited Ukraine to learn more about his roots, he was exposed to Hutsul wood art in the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine. Amazed by the craftsmanship, Nick was inspired to find a way to bring this art into a Western context.

While most of the art produced in Ukraine is ornamental— decorative plates, jewelry boxes, tables —Nick knew this was not the way to reach people back home. After a trip to Ukraine, Nick was with friends in Brooklyn. One of his friends was wearing a pair of wooden sunglasses.They looked cool, were sturdy, and … bare and unfinished.

They were blank canvases! And so the idea was conceived later that day: Hetmans Sunglasses