Our Factories

We only work with factories that share our values of quality and integrity. It’s quite simple: if the factory ain’t right, it ain’t for us.

We work together

Over the years, we’ve become pretty tight with our partners. We have a direct line of communication with our suppliers, to establish a two-way level of trust and respect. That’s how we’re able to maintain a high standard, and it feels good to get to know the people we work with.



We have also partnered up with QIMA to do the technical stuff for us. They conduct both quality controls and audits in order to measure the performance, social accountability and quality management systems. We use the information they provide to make improvements in the supply chain.

When we are looking for someone to collaborate with, we follow some guidelines each supplier must meet:

• A high level of experience — proven technical abilities and quality control.
• Fair pricing and transparency — We’ll only work with factories that allow us and our auditors to visit at any time.
• Proof of social and environmental practices — clear safety rules, use of renewable energy and recycling initiatives.

Dive deep into our supplier practices on our Responsibility page and Medium blog.

Manufacturers & Suppliers

What’s the difference between a manufacturer and a supplier anyway?

• Our supply partners (suppliers) source and deliver raw materials, components and lenses. They provide the parts we need to start building your glasses.
• Our manufacturing partners (manufacturers) build your frames and add lenses, using parts provided by the suppliers.

Got it? Let’s move on.

Close to home

Ace & Tate HQ, Amsterdam (NL)

We’re proud to work with a dream team of in-house designers at our Amsterdam headquarters. They oversee the whole design process — from mood boards and material research, sketching from scratch, to fit and quality checks. They also talk to and visit our partners in Italy and China. And yes, we’re jealous they get to go on factory trips.

Shipping & Resources, North Brabant (NL)

These guys are delivery wizards. We’ve worked with them from the very beginning and they’ve always made sure our product gets to customers safe and sound. They’re a nice lot, even if they laugh at the names of our frames and colours once in a while. But TBH, we do too.

Further afield

Lens suppliers

We work with a couple of different lens suppliers, to keep up with demand. Our Dutch supplier is family-owned and has more than 100 years of experience in the industry.



Our other supplier is based in Thailand, although the company is Japanese. They’ve been producing specialised ophthalmic lenses for decades, so they’re rightly considered one of the top three lens manufacturers in the world.



Visiting both is always a treat, whether it’s around the corner for tea and stroopwafels, or to top up our tans in Thailand (we do get some work done, too).

Frame manufacturers

We work mostly with frame manufacturers in Treviso (Italy) and Shenzhen (China): the best regions for eyewear production in the world. Recently, we also began working in Siem Reap (Cambodia), too. We started solely in Italy but, in order to keep up with a growing number of orders, we extended production to China in 2017. Global supply chain issues in early 2020 meant that we also started working with a Cambodian factory, which is owned by one of our growing Chinese partners.



Our raw material suppliers are also close by, so there’s no need to ship materials around the world. Check our Supplier Code of Conduct to see how we make sure our suppliers fit our standards.

Treviso, Italy

Treviso is a region in Northern Italy with a history of manufacturing top quality glasses. It's here where we first started producing our frames, and we continue to work with them today. Plus, they always like to do business over fresh pasta and prosecco — a no brainer.



As we’ve grown, our orders became too much for them alone, which is why we decided to look for other suppliers. By easing the pressure off one company, we can maintain our quality standards, and keep our customers happy.

Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen is a highly esteemed hub for eyewear production. You might know it as a source for smartphones — and those detail-oriented, highly technical skills are exactly what we need when producing glasses.



We work with three factories in Shenzhen, each with its own specialisation: acetate, metal (including titanium) and combination frames.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The eyewear industry is one of many to be struck by supply chain issues in early 2020. Since our partners in Italy and China were under strain, we needed additional production support to keep up with demand.



We’re lucky that one of our Chinese partners has expanded its production to Cambodia, meaning we can keep making glasses to trusted standards. A bonus: This contemporary facility operates with sustainable manufacturing at its core. Its sloped roof is designed to collect solar energy, as well as draining rainwater into a pool that can hold 180k gallons of recycled water — enough to keep production running for 4 months.



As with each new production relationship, we followed thorough auditing processes to ensure the factory conforms to globally recognised standards included in our Supplier Code of Conduct.