We Are French Kiwis

Our designs are crafted with utmost integrity and an innovation for fashionable readers tailored for the mature, style-savvy, and even playful, individual. The world of French Kiwis was created just for you, so feel free to shop with confidence.

• By
  Jessica, Co-Founder & Creative Director of French Kiwis Eyewear

French Kiwis was born in one of the most uncertain times of our lives—during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were confined at home, like the rest of the world, unsure of what the future held. My husband Gad, who is also co-founder and our CEO, was watching the family business—a reading glasses company started by his father—take a massive hit. He and his brother Ari, co-founder and our CFO, had spent nearly two decades building it, supplying affordable, conservative readers to pharmacy chains across Quebec.

When pharmacies started covering up all the glasses displays to prevent customers from trying them on because at that point, no one was really sure how COVID was being transmitted, everything came to a halt. No sales. No income. Just silence. Gad was devastated. I saw it in his eyes every day—he was scared, stressed, and overwhelmed. And then one day, in the middle of this chaos, I reminded him of something he had said for years: “I’d never wear the glasses we sell. They're cheap and unflattering.”
He had always dreamed of creating a high-end line of reading glasses—something stylish and elevated, for people like us who didn’t want to buy readers from a pharmacy, but also didn’t want to spend a fortune on designer frames at an optician.

That moment sparked something in him. I told him: Let’s do it. I would take care of the creative direction and build the brand image. I knew I could bring a strong creative vision and help build a brand that would connect with people. Ari with his calm and grounded presence would handle finance and operations. Gad, with his deep knowledge of design and production, would lead the product development. Together, we made the perfect trio. His eyes lit up. And just like that, French Kiwis was born—right there at our kitchen table, with our two kids playing in the background and the world on pause.

For months, while still confined at home, we poured our hearts into the project. We brainstormed names, sketched style ideas, built mood boards, and mapped out the kind of brand we wanted to create. We knew we weren’t just designing reading glasses—we were building a new experience for people who care about style, quality, and comfort, even in the little things. We spent countless hours sourcing the best acetate and metal materials, as well as the best quality lenses, determined to create glasses that felt as good as they looked. Every detail mattered. We prioritized partnering with suppliers and manufacturers who shared our obsession with quality and had a strong reputation for craftsmanship and ethical production. Nothing was left to chance—every choice made was deliberate, thoughtful, and aligned with the premium standard we envisioned for French Kiwis.

French Kiwis is about reinventing the way people see readers. It’s for the bold, the creative, the detail-obsessed. It’s for people who believe that function should never come at the expense of style.

What started as a pandemic project to save our family business has grown into a brand that we're incredibly proud of. Every pair of glasses we design is a reflection of that journey—a blend of heritage, resilience, and a whole lot of heart.

Welcome to French Kiwis.