About us

It all begun from consciousness. 

By observing the contrast between our current extractive economic model and the balance of nature. Our connection with the wilderness of Patagonia ignited a strong passion and the belief that if we changed the way we see ourselves as human beings, we could change our way of relating to the world.

This inspired us into creating high-quality eyewear to use as a tool for communicating a different way of looking at the world: one in which we are all nature.

Our first prototypes. It took us 2 years to get to this initial prototype which filled us with hope and motivation as the starting point of a story of innovation.

We created our first eyewear, entirely handcrafted from fallen trees in Patagonia, making us one of the world´s pioneers in creating sunglasses from wood. Out of utter respect for the Mapuche culture and its traditions we decided to work with the NGO “Memoria Azul” and created a programme in which we would work together with mapuche women from rural localities, developing these handmade woolen cases for our sunglasses. From their own homes, using their sheeps wool and using roots and vegetables as dye. 

They say to never meet your idols, we strongly disagree. We got the chance to meet Yvon Chouinard (Founder of Patagonia Inc) and gave him the first prototype of one of our most beloved designs; the “Patagonia” model.

Certified BCORP Our verified transparency, social and environmental performance allowed us to to be certified as a B CORP. An achievement that made us feel proud but also challenged to contribute even more.

Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign: that year, together with Bureo Inc, we created the first sunglasses in the world made with 100% recycled fishing nets. Recycled plastic would mark the beginning of a quest to discover and innovate on materials that are considered waste. 

The Sailing Edition: For sailors, by sailors. 

We developed the official sunglasses for The Volvo Ocean Race (17’-18’), one of the most extreme sports competitions in the world, where sailors compete around the world for 9 months in the toughest conditions only few dare to experience.

True balance between sustainability and performance.

Clothing collection: Sometimes, innovation brings failure. 

After years of development, in 2017 we introduced another never seen before material in eyewear. Frames made out of recycled jeans and bio-resin.
Although beautiful, this collection didn’t pass our quality standards. This made us reinforce our commitment to our customers: every Karün product must be created to last a lifetime.

Ok, once you hear about Precious Plastic you instantly want to go ahead and build your own miniature recycling company, so we did. 

They came to visit us in our HQ and sooner than later we launched REKABA, an NGO that aims to create opportunities out of plastic waste.   

For more info, visit: rekaba.org

Being based in Santiago (the capital of Chile), we decided to make our bags and head south with the whole team to settle in our new Headquarters in Puerto Varas, Northern Patagonia, Chile so that we could be closer to the communities we are working with and the natural landscapes we are protecting.

Sailing edition 2.0 - made with recycled fishing nets and carbon fiber. 

A calm sea never made an expert sailor. After testing our Sailing Edition frames on seas we noticed that being constantly exposed to water was affecting the rigidity of the material, so we had to innovate again, and came up with a formula that mixed the recycled fishing nets with carbon fiber from an old mast, making our eyewear perfectly resistant.

Our first colourful collection!
The amazing technology from ECONYL ® enabled us to transform the Karün collectors recycled fishing nets, into a one of a kind recycled plastic that ensures the same technical features from a virgin plastic, but using 100% recycled materials.

How could we expand our efforts to protect Patagonia´s pristine nature and communities? For sure, not alone. 

We officially started a 4-year and close to 1MM USD commitment with Balloon Latam. Where, thanks to the sales of our products, we are funding a full programme that aims to enhance social-territorial development and to strengthen the relationship of the local community in Cochamó, Northern Patagonia, so they become leaders in the protection of their culture, identity and natural landscapes, for future generations.

Nat Geo Collaboration:

We teamed with leader of exploration and science, National Geographic. We developed the ultimate adventure eyewear inspired by the shared love for exploration and the never-ending stories it inspires.