Sea2see founder Francois van den Abeele in Ghana

Sea2see Eyewear has expanded its ethical venture to turn more marine plastic into stylish, modern frames and is backing a new documentary to help prevent the extinction of southern orcas.

Founded in 2016 by social entrepreneur François van den Abeele, Sea2see created its own environmental programme for collecting marine plastic waste across France and Spain and has now expanded this into Ghana and Senegal, creating a new source of income for the West African fishermen as well as helping the environment.

“The Sea2see philosophy is completely unique in the eyewear industry. It is based on taking environmental action to help save the ocean and making each person who wears Sea2see part of the change,” said van den Abeele.

The company has also unveiled a new capsule collection designed specifically to support Searching for Chinook, a new documentary to help prevent the extinction of the last remaining 72 southern resident orcas being made by three young film makers, including Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams.

Sea2see frames are made in Italy from 100% marine plastic waste which is upcycled into a reusable raw material in pellet form called Upsea Plast, van den Abeele explained. “The material is cradle-to-cradle gold certified and represents a unique development in eyewear, offering a quality finish and robust, lightweight properties making it extremely adaptable and attractive when used to create new frames.”

Today, Sea2see's range includes more than 135 sunglasses and optical frames.