TIM PARR
Photos by Jake Chessum
It used to be as we got older and started to need reading glasses, the only option were those “granny” glasses sold in the drugstore, demi-frames that sat on the edge of your nose. They were called granny glasses for a reason. Wearing readers made you look old. All that changed when CADDIS came along, reinventing the category, making readers — and getting older — look cool.
The opening paragraph on their about page reads: “CADDIS is calling bullshit on 50 is the new 40, on the whole fountain of youth illusion, on the many industries that are profiting on vanity and fear of age, on the concept of ‘aging gracefully’ and on the notion of raging against the dying of the light.” But that was not the original idea for the brand. It was to reinvent the category, because “the product sucked”, said Tim Parr, the founder of CADDIS, in a recent conversation with STYLE of SPORT.
I met Tim Parr by chance in the CADDIS shop in the West Village of Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. I was there picking out glasses for a photo shoot. He asked if I needed help, that he “kind of worked there.” We started chatting and I asked him what he actually did in the store. He smiled and told me he’d started the company. As the universe had presented this opportunity, I asked if I could interview him for STYLE of SPORT. Five days later we were chatting over coffee about the evolution of CADDIS, how it all started, and what’s to come.
STYLE OF SPORT: As a woman in her early 60’s, I love this message. What inspired what you call the “anti anti-aging” concept?
TIM PARR: It was not the original concept for the brand. The idea didn’t come until we were halfway down the road. We had not built anything yet, only samples. I had a meeting with a venture capitalist and I put a quote on the bottom of the box in the 11th hour that said, “calling bullshit on 50 is the new 40, 60 is the new 50.” The venture capitalist flipped the box over and asked, “What’s this?”
The next statement was, “You can’t do that. Everyone wants to believe they’re 15 years younger than they are”, which sounded ass backwards to me. If you’re going to do an authentic lifestyle brand, you have to have transparency, and that’s just bullshit trying to be something that you’re not.
The meeting was over. I walked down the stairs and when I got to the sidewalk, it hit me. We’re in the business of age. I just rocked this person’s world by even bringing it up.
SOS: Age, because our eyesight starts to go and we need glasses?
TP: And identity. Research shows women become invisible and men become irrelevant as they age out. I’m not saying that’s what happens. I’m saying that’s how they feel. Some people need identity when they get older. Especially people 50-75 years old. Our whole world is designed for 18-38 years old to establish their identity. But if your identity is already established, you’re kind of on your own. When I was trying to raise money, one of the things was name a lifestyle brand that specifically targets 50 year olds.
SOS: What was the original concept for the brand?
TP: It was very much a product driven brand because the product sucked. No one cared about reading glasses. It was to make better products. We followed the playbooks from action sports and fashion and music, which was where we were born and raised from a marketing point of view.
SOS: In terms of what?
TP: No one was putting ex-pro surfers or musicians attached to reading glasses. Nobody. That’s what got us out of the gate. Let’s do something completely different: product, positioning, marketing, distribution. There’s a different way to operate, especially if you’re a Gen X driven brand. There are things people hold sacred that we just don’t. We’ll break institutions out of fun. Case in point: when we needed a company email address, we created helpivefallenandicantgetup@caddislife.com. People said that’s too long. I said I don’t care. That’s what it is.
SOS: It’s memorable for sure. You definitely have to be a particular generation to get it. Does it still work?
TP: It still works.
SOS: What has been the progression of products? You started with readers and have expanded.
A FEW OF MY CADDIS LOOKS… CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: D28 READING GLASSES; D28 POLARIZED SUNGLASSES; HOOPER PROGRESSIVE GLASSES
TP: Readers were the obvious product done poorly within the entire industry. We sell out of surf shops, outdoor shops, all kinds. We’re still the only clear lens being sold out of Hobie Surf shops in Southern California. Our wholesale distribution is really varied. Now we’ve graduated into the Goops of the world… and Nordstroms, things like that.
SOS: What’s next?
TP: We went into sunglasses which are new. I’m really excited about that. We launched those a couple months ago. We’ll continue to beat that drum. It’s limited at the moment but will expand. We do all of our own in-house optometry now, so you can send us a prescription and we can build that for you. It takes about a week to 10 days. Thats going to keep us busy, just those two additions.
SOS: I’m so interested in what a typical day is for the founder of a company. You told me you were on 20 Zooms today. What were those calls all about? What do you have to do on a daily basis to make this brand what it is?
TP: I’m still wondering what a typical day looks like. About five months ago I fired myself as CEO, which was awesome. I hired a new CEO, Emma Spagnuolo, who’s fantastic. She came from Tommy Hilfiger and McKinsey. My world now is mainly trying to navigate toward product design and brand management.
SOS: The two things that make you guys who you are.
TP: If it has to do with design and marketing it all goes through my filter: product design, packaging, store design. We have one store in LA and one here in New York. We’re opening up three more doors pretty soon. It’s a lot when you’re a highly branded company. Coming into the day it’s a really simple product, but if you can build meaning into it, build an emotional response, and have it stand for something beyond the physicality of the thing, then you’re cooking with gas.
CHECKING OUT THE MENU IN THE ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
