ABOUT US
DO YOU WANT TO SEE
THINGS DIFFERENTLY?
Melon is an independent brand
made up of hard working, shred loving, outside of the box kind of people.
We truly love the products we make and the brand we build. We can’t get enough of the sports we craft our products to perform in, and we cheers a beer to anyone who makes the choice to rock our eyewear for their adventures.
Based from wherever we feel is right for our soul, we collaborate remotely, and use our many friends across the world to help us in testing and approving our performance products before they reach your face.
Join us in seeing things differently, and take creative control of your eyewear.
Our story
Want to find out how we took our yearning for a better eyewear experience and turned it into our daily obsession? Read on friend…
THE PLAN
James our founder is travelling in Indonesia, he’s left the UK to develop his idea of custom eyewear from a seed in his imagination to some form of plausible plan.
He spends a few months reading business books, doing online research as well as surfing the dream waves of Sumatra.
Armed with new knowledge and motivated by the stories and successes about which he reads, James sets to work penning a plan of how to bring his vision to life
Returning to Europe with his plan fresh in hand, he rounds up a few thousand pounds of investment here and there, and having found a manufacturer sets about making his commitment to bring Melon to life by placing the brand’s first ever sunglass order for our original sunglasses – The Layback.
HELLO WORLD!
Our first ever product launches, here’s James our founder on the beginning of the journey “It was exciting! We had 2 months from starting it all to launching in time for summer, I called in so many favours from friends; filming the product video, building the website, design work, I had to use the skills of those around me in exchange for beers! It was definitely a bit bodged but it worked! It baffles me now on how we got any sales in but it happened!”
AUTUMN – 2013
Product number two is brought to life – The Chief snow goggle. Taking a popular goggle shape, we hope that by adding the customisable element Melon’s first ever snow goggle will get some attention. Launching via an Indiegogo campaign, with the first goggles going for just £25, the Chief is an outstanding success and paves the way for Melon’s first successful winter.
SOME COLD HARD INSPIRATION
Leaving his Dad to build and pack the orders in their shed at home, James heads off for a winter to live in the French ski town of Morzine. He plans to do as much product testing as possible and get input from fellow shredders in resort whilst still maintaining a regular appearance at the apres bars!
ADDING TO THE FAMILY
It’s time for snow goggle number two to come to life – The Jackson is developed to offer a slightly smaller fit and bolster the range. The goggle is launched and James decides he needs some more surf based inspiration and packs his bag and jets over to Bali.
A NEW HOME IN PARADISE
A new base in the tropical Indonesian paradise island of Bali turns out to be good for the soul as focus is turned to product development with the second pair of custom sunglass – The Layback 2 being developed. The Bali lifestyle also allows for a low cost of living so that business costs can be kept down and all monies invested into keeping the Melon (ball) rolling!
BUILDING THE CREW
Melon gets a new addition as Neil, a fellow Bali ex pat joins the team after a break from working in the action sports industry in Europe. Neil brings a wealth of knowledge and begins pushing Melon into stores across the globe.
THE TRIO
Goggle number three and arguably the goggle that would change it all for us – The Parker hits the market. It’s angular more aggressive styling is an instant hit on the slopes, and everyone we know who owns a pair of MTB goggles is screaming at us to offer this goggle for MTB.
A WHOLE NEW WORLD
It’s crazy who you meet when you travel. James moves into a new villa in Bali and who does he end up living with other than steezy CP Gang freerider Nick Pescetto. James and Nick set about making the parker work for the MTB world, testing the goggle in the humid jungle DH tracks of Bali Bike Park. It launches on Kickstarter AND it flops! We don’t know if it’s the wrong platform or the MTB scene hasn’t heard enough of us, but it doesn’t go well. We restrategise and focus on pushing out content and getting into the core MTB scene letting the product do the talking.
CEMENTING THE INDO TIES
The boys set up their first shop in Canggu, Bali which becomes the brands first hub for a true custom eyewear experience. It’s a surreal moment that is celebrated with a few Bintangs down the beach!
KEEP ON GROWING
Ash joins the team after being tempted to the sunny shores of Bali from the rainy streets of London. Two more shops are built in Bali and the MTB team expands to include, Adolf Silva, Ben Deakin, Joel Anderson and Nick Pescetto.
TO THE DRAWING BOARD
It’s decided a new MTB specific goggle is needed to keep things moving in the right direction. We get our Alps based product designer on the phone and begin the process of developing a goggle that will work beautifully with a full face helmet. A year of development and testing ensues, as we work hard on a product to perform with the best on the market.
We also attend the UCI World Cup round in Fort William for the first time, and get to experience the love from some of the best fans in MTB!
THE DIABLO IS BORN
The most customisable goggle on the market, and the first to feature a one piece outrigger with deflector hit’s the (online) shelves with the MTB community in Europe going crazy for it! At the same time we’ve already begun working on perhaps our most exciting product development yet, a pair of performance sunglasses you’ll now know as the Alleycat.
THREE MEN IN A VAN
We pack into the Melon van and head for an Italian road trip to lock down our manufacturing for the new Alleycats, as well as a cheeky snowboard sesh, and as many pizza stops as we can cram in!
We meet Dino the owner of a family run factory with a long history of finely crafted eyewear that will produce the Alleycat. We also head to the base of the iconic lens manufacturer Zeiss. In awe of their facility and tech on show, we come away with our trail performance lens range to be used in the glasses.
RIDE WILD
As far as launch dates go for a riding sunglasses winter isn’t the ideal time, but we had to take some extra time to get the Alleycat just right.
We launch the Alleycat with bated breath unsure of the response, Inside we know we’ve made something damn awesome but you never truly know how a product launch will go! What follows is months of excitement as we literally cannot make enough Alleycats to satisfy demand.
Meanwhile we continue to launch new limited edition straps and new frame colours to keep the goggle line looking fresh and fun.