Maono is Swahili for “vision”, a word that resonates with the founder, Faith Dawson, who was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease in 2020. Stargardt’s is a rare genetic eye disease that affects the central vision and causes progressive vision loss over time. 

When Faith found out about her condition, sunglasses became a staple accessory for her -- and not for style but for the protection they offered against the sun’s harmful UV rays. Overexposure to UV can be damaging to the eyes over time and can cause issues down the line for anyone, not just people with eye conditions. In fact, our eyes are said to be 10x more sensitive to UV than our skin.

 In her new quest for sunglasses, Faith quickly learned that not all sunglasses were designed to protect and are oftentimes intended primarily for fashion purposes. 

This inspired her to create her own line of luxury sunglasses she could trust -- one that is founded in both protection and style.. All styles on Maono Eyewear are designed with 100%UVA/UVB protective lenses. 

Despite losing her eyesight, Faith gained a new vision -- to spread awareness about eye protection and blinding diseases. A portion of proceeds from Maono Eyewear will be donated to causes geared towards research and innovations for fighting against blindness.