When East Coast native Adam Moyer first became a regular on the beaches of San Diego nearly a decade and a half ago while studying for his master\u2019s degree in fine art at UC San Diego, he realized that he \u2014\u00a0and his friends \u2014 had a dire need for sunglasses all year round.<\/p>\n
Moyer found himself going through pair after pair and soon began buying in bulk, which gave him an idea: Why not create his own?<\/p>\n
Taken from a familiar term his father used for \u201cold, reliable clothes that could take a beating,\u201d Knockaround Sunglasses, LLC<\/a> was launched while Moyer was still a grad student at UCSD. He began producing a line of practicable and affordable, but stylish and sturdy sunglasses out of his personal art studio.<\/p>\n According to the Knockaround website, Moyer created a style all his own.<\/p>\n \u201cMerging the classic East Coast prep style of his Virginia upbringing, his interest in design and fashion, and a newfound love for the perpetually sunny, laid-back lifestyle of Southern California, [Moyer] created a company centered around a sunglasses line that was simultaneously practical and stylish.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The standard Knockaround model is a Wayfarer-style frame, but then new models, alternative frame styles, an expansion in the variety of color choices, differing lens options and even a line of accessories, soon followed. Today Knockaround offers 10 select models with over 100 styles of sunglasses, and that doesn\u2019t include the countless custom and limited-edition models they create.<\/p>\n Ten years after opening, Knockaround not only operates out of a large warehouse at 2031 Commercial St., Downtown, with a fun, laid-back Silicon Valley-style culture, they have become so successful they juggle a number of philanthropic projects at any given time.<\/p>\n \u201cKnockaround has always been, from the beginning, a very positive, optimistic, all-inclusive, feel-good brand intended to be a part of your feel-good moments,\u201d said Tony Martinez, Knockaround\u2019s marketing manager.<\/p>\n In addition, on July 22, they will be handing out 20,000 pairs of Knockaround\u2019s \u201cFort Knocks\u201d model sunglasses \u2014 a $30 value and renamed \u201cFriarknocks\u201d for the giveaway \u2014 to fans walking through the turnstiles at the San Diego Padres game, and this is their fourth year of doing so.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Friarknocks\u2019 is the name that we\u2019ve casually given the sunglasses that we do for the Padres giveaway each year,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cIt started out as a hashtag we used for our second-year giveaway, and every year we try to design a new set of \u2018Friarknocks.\u2019 We\u2019ve come across a lot of fans that have two or more of our giveaways, and it\u2019s exciting for them to collect and look forward to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n This year their \u201cFriarknocks\u201d sunglasses will come in the infamous 1984 Padres colors and each pair will come with a special Padres version of Knockaround\u2019s custom Knocchi strap \u2014\u00a0another $6 value.<\/p>\n They also upped their game with the Padres this year by offering to be a sponsor at seven College Nights at Petco Park during the team\u2019s home season, three of which are still left; July 23, Sept. 3 and Sept. 24. On those nights, Knockaround staff can be found operating a photo booth up on the Budweiser deck and giving out even more sunglasses to students who come through the booth.<\/p>\n Giving back, Martinez said, has always been an important aspect of Knockaround\u2019s business model. Three years ago they decided to work with underserved children and came across ArtReach, a Little Italy-based nonprofit that provides art classes to Title One schools throughout San Diego County that do not have a budget or other resources for any type of art instruction.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the most generous young people I\u2019ve ever met,\u201d said Judy Berman Silbert, executive director of ArtReach, referring to Moyer and his Knockaround staff. \u201cThey are a very small, tight team and very hardworking but it\u2019s like family there.\u201d<\/p>\n Knockaround calls their relationship with ArtReach the \u201cClass Acts\u201d project. Each year they go into elementary schools and teach fourth- and fifth-graders about art and design.<\/p>\n \u201cKids aren\u2019t aware of what design is \u2014 especially with the current focus on STEAM [science, technology, engineering, agriculture, mathematics],\u201d Berman Silbert said. \u201cWe try to get kids to pay attention to things around them and realize that everything was designed, somebody drew it. Adam told the students that Petco started as a drawing and then it was a model, and now it is a baseball stadium. We want to get kids to think not just about the sunglasses, but how they were made.\u201d<\/p>\n After the presentation, students are given a worksheet with an outline of the Knockaround sunglass frame and told to design their own pair of sunglasses. The winning design gets manufactured into a real line of sunglasses and is then sold as a fundraising event; with proceeds going back to the schools and ArtReach.<\/p>\n \u201cArt is a very significant part of Adam\u2019s and Knockaround\u2019s background, and the idea of contributing to elementary school art programs so that kids are given the same artistic opportunities that Adam and others were given is extremely important to Knockaround,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cOur Class Acts program is something that we intend on doing every year, with the hopes that we can continue to grow its reach and contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n This year 316 students from three schools \u2014 Foster Elementary in Allied Gardens, Monarch Downtown and Jefferson in North Park \u2014 submitted designs through the program.<\/p>\n The winning design, called \u201cStriker,\u201d was submitted by Evan Bui of Foster Elementary. During the fundraising period, the Striker custom sunglasses sold 943 units. Knockaround\u2019s goal was 1,200.<\/p>\n Berman Silbert said last year that Knockabout donated $8,000 back from the program to Art Reach and this year because of record sales during the fundraiser, they are poised to get much more.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it was about opening the kids\u2019 eyes [about how all things start with a design] \u2014 and the joy they got from being involved and the generosity of Knockaround,\u201d Berman Silbert said.<\/p>\n Martinez said the company\u2019s tenth year is being called \u201ca decade of Knocks\u201d and they are involving themselves with projects that combine things they\u2019ve learned over the last decade, culminating with a big anniversary bash in October.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also have a couple collaborations coming towards the end of 2015 that we are really excited about,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily want to spill the beans but one we\u2019re working on is something we appreciate in terms of craft and suds \u2014 being a San Diego-based brand, the craft beer industry is a very genuine, natural fit for us. So look out for a collaboration with one of San Diego\u2019s pioneers in the craft beer movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Sounds like the staff will be \u201cknocking back\u201d another project soon.<\/p>\n For more information about Knockaround Sunglasses, visit knockaround.com<\/a>. To learn more about Art Reach, visit artreachsandiego.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Morgan M. Hurley can be reached at morgan@sdcnn.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Morgan M. Hurley | Editor<\/p>","protected":false},"author":753,"featured_media":228194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"A class act","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/753"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Foster-Elementary-Strikerweb.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Evan](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Striker_insta_evan-300x300.jpg\")
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(Courtesy Knockaround)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"College](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/20150528-IMG_6867-1web.jpg\")
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(Courtesy Knockaround)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"Kids](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/FosterShadesHighResweb.jpg\")
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