BALLO: Twenty-Three Gestures Behind a Pair of Cape Town Sunglasses

A pair of sunglasses is usually the most anonymous object in a wardrobe: injection-moulded, shipped by the container, forgotten in a glovebox. BALLO, founded in Cape Town in 2013 by Alistair Barnes, starts from the opposite premise. Its motto — See Things Differently — is less a slogan than a production method.

Materials with a previous life

Every BALLO frame is made from something that already existed: wood and fabric offcuts, recycled paper, cork left over from wine-bottle stoppers, hemp, and plant-based bio-acetate. The Cosmo in cork, the Mungo in cherry wood veneer, the Bardot wrapped in African fabric: each model carries the texture of its source rather than hiding it under lacquer.

Twenty-three hand processes

A single pair passes through twenty-three hand-crafted steps in the Cape Town atelier. That figure matters economically as much as aesthetically. In a city where formal employment is scarce, BALLO's growth equation is unusually direct: more eyewear means more artisans in work.

Certified, not just claimed

The house is B Corp certified and a member of 1% for the Planet. It has supported GreenPop, Women for Change, Langa For Men and the Sentinel Ocean Alliance, and since 2024 its Buy 1 Give 1 programme donates a frame to a South African schoolchild for each pair sold.

For European buyers

For concept stores and opticians in Europe, BALLO offers something rare: a story that holds up to scrutiny, at accessible price points (from €99 retail), with small minimum orders. The collection is available on the JAANTE Showroom and wholesale via the B2B Marketplace.