We caught up with partner of Ashbury Eyewear Nima Jalali to learn a little background info on the brand and what’s happening on the day to day in the Ashbury Emporium.
Give us a little history on Ashbury Eyewear, how did the brand start, how long in business, what makes Ashbury Eyewear unique & different in todays crowded market place?
Ashbury Eyewear started out of a garage 6 years ago in Los Angeles, California with myself, Mike Hakker & Lance Hakker. I think what makes us unique is that we are just young snowboarders who started a brand with friends and had our friends help in brand direction, design, product & marketing.
When you’re not in the Ashbury Emporium ruling all things Ashbury, where can we find you?
You can find me skateboarding, snowboarding, hanging with friends & playing golf which has been a new one that I picked up.
We just got the 2014 Ashbury goggles in stock, what makes 2013-14 Ashbury goggles stand out from other brands, what makes Ashbury unique & original?
I think it just comes back to design, team rider driven designs. All of our products are what we want to see and not products designed just because we know it will sell. We take a lot of feedback from our team and incorporate that feedback into designing our new lines.
What is new in the 2014 Ashbury goggle collection? Is there something your most amped about?
There is a lot of new designs that I am really hyped on but our Bullet frame with a wide field of view, spherical lens + bonus lens at a great price has been really successful. We are also working on developing a new goggle frame for winter 2014-15.
Why should someone buy Ashbury goggles?
For a quality product & to support snowboarding and snowboarders, when you buy Ashbury goggles you know you are supporting a 100% rider owned brand whos main goal is to give back to snowboarding.
Being a partner in Ashbury Eyewear what do your day to day duties consist of ? Give us a rundown of a day in the life of Nima Jalali.
I run all production and sales for Ashbury, I wake up and work until I go to sleep! If it wasn’t for the Iphone I wouldn’t be able to leave a computer, ever!
What do you enjoy most about being in the Eyewear industry & building the Ashbury brand?
I like eyewear & I was always picky about the goggles & sunglasses I wear. It’s cool to be able to design product from scratch that I really like to use and see it become reality.
Where did the name Ashbury come from, what inspired this?
We just all really liked the name, I think we were flipping through 60’s garage books and that name came up because of Haight Ashbury.
Who designs the Ashbury sunglass frames? Are they unique frames to Ashbury? And where does the design inspiration come from?
The design on our sunglass frames are a collective effort by us, our team & our friends. They are all unique frames to Ashbury with inspiration coming from our lifestyles, fashion and music.
All Ashbury sunglasses come with Carl Zeiss Lenses, what is so good about Carl Zeiss Lens technology?
They make the best camera lenses and the best sunglass lenses hands down! There is no question that you can tell the difference in quality from a regular sunglass lens to a Zeiss lens.
How was the transition from Pro Snowboarder into business partner & owner of a growing brand?
It was a pretty easy transistion, I think I’ve always had a pretty good work ethic and I have always been really interested in business.
How long has Ashbury been in the goggle & sunglass business? Was it sunglasses first then goggles, or the other way around?
We’ve been around for 6 years now & developed sunglasses and goggles at the same time.
Owning and running a brand is a busy lifestyle, but you are a rider owned company, where can we find you riding in the winter? With who?
Bear Mountain with all my friends!
How do Ashbury team riders have direct input into graphics & product development in both goggles & sunglasses?
We work closely with our team riders on their signature goggles and shades & we always ask for feedback and ideas so we can turn that feedback into new products.
Any new frames in the sunglass collection coming down the pipes?
We have a couple in the works & are going through the development stages right now and they should be out soon!
What is the most versatile frames for the price in the collection?
I personally am hyped on all the styles, but our new Pistol frame has had great feedback and delivers great style, quality and a good price.
Ashbury Pistol Sunglasses
What can we expect from Ashbury moving forward in sunglasses & goggles?
We just want to keep doing what we are doing and keep coming up with creative and cool product that our crew & team is hyped on.
Any final thoughts or shout outs?
Thank you for supporting a rider owned brand and thanks to Action Sport Optics, we appreciate the support!
Visit Action Sport Optics for Ashbury Eyewear & Goggles, ASO is your #1 online source for action sport & lifestyle related optics. We pride ourselves in great products from the leading brands, superior customer service & fast shipping. Eyewear is our vision!
