Illesteva

many of the sunglasses that you see on celebrities are the vision of a so-ho business. That's right, Fox 5's Allison Morris introduced us to the man be How are you? Yo. Illa Steeva launched smack in the middle of the Great Recession, but it's found or believed that actually helped them because it was a time when people really started to look for luxury products at more affordable prices. Glasses shouldn't cost $700. For Daniel Silberman, founder and CEO of luxury eyewear brand Illa Steeva, it was that simple. Good sunglasses shouldn't be so expensive. He was looking for a pair in 2009 and couldn't find anyt It was a very tough time to start a business because in 2009 it was But Silberman wouldn't listen. The biggest advantage we had in 2009 is that we didn't know better. He launched Illa Steeva with five frames in four different colors. T All handmade in Italy. I found t He made six samples. Went to Miami, shot a look book and now we're here. Illa Steeva has been different from the start. Instead of using traditional models, Silberman's first look book featured old Cuban domino players. Instead of taking on investors, Silberman says he's financed the company's growth with its own cash flow and has been profitable since year two. The company started with around $5,000. So it was just basically every profit got reinvested and we tried to save money wherever we could. Today Illa Steeva has grown to 50 employees and has a host of celebrity customers. One from Beyonce and Rihanna, Therese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba, Carly Kloss and Kendall Jenner. Even first daughter Sasha Obama is a fan. Illa Steeva's done collaborations with Jay Kru, designer Zach Pozen and legendary musician Lou Reed before he died. They even offered design your own glasses for just $10 more. Pick your front. Then you can pick any lens you want. We have more options than that and then you pick your temple and then you can come up with your own combo and you'll be the only one in New York to have that pair of glasses. Last month they launched direct to cons Illa Steeva'success is somet I'm still surprised. It's Illa Steeva also does handmade leather backpacks and wallets, even The sunglasses though really are the star of the show here. They actually lose money on the design your own, but Daniel said customers really wanted them and that's the beauty of not having any investors. You can make decisions like that lose money and no one can tell That is cool. They have that control over it. Nice. Thank you Allison.