Empowered Women, Empower Women!

It was 2009 when twin designers Corianna and Brianna Dotson (aka Coco and Breezy) first launched their company Coco and Breezy. Coco and Breezy is an optical and fashionable eyewear company that have designed glasses for celebrities such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kelly Osbourne, Nicki Minaj, Serena Williams, Beyonce and even a specially designed “third eye” sunglasses for the late Prince!

The road from launching their company to designing sunglasses for Prince wasn’t a smooth road. In fact, it was a bumpy road riddled with financial challenges that, at the time, seemed impossible to overcome.

The duo started working at the age young age of 14 when their father experienced multiple strokes that prevented him from working. With their mother in school receiving her x-ray technician license, there was little to no income forcing the sisters to find employment to help with family expenses.

In just high school alone, Coco and Breezy worked over 90 hours in addition to having a normal high school workload! Impressively, they graduated high school at 17 (with extra credits) while working three jobs. They moved from Minnesota to New York City with nothing but each other and their dreams.

The first Coco and Breezy eyewear was designed from safety goggles with glued on studs! It took them a few years to understand both the business and design aspects of running their company. Within the learning curve, there were times when their account balance was low and risks were taken to keep the company afloat. In an interview with Forbes, Coco stated:

“We had to develop a deep background in every aspect of the process: design, production, importing, sales, marketing, and distribution. We learned many of these things the hard way, but are lucky to have many great mentors in the industry and an amazing community supporting our company, from our talented friends, to our customers, to major brands.”

Coco and Breezy Eyewear is more than a sunglasses company. They have built an inclusive culture rooted in self expression, creativity, art and discipline - the discipline needed to turn dreams into reality.

Our collaboration with Coco and Breezy came just in time for Black History Month and we couldn’t be more honored to partner with such an amazing, bad ass woman owned company! Coco and Breezy’s humble beginnings kindly remind us that anything is possible when you set your intentions and work hard toward your dreams. When you feel like quitting, remember why you started. Surround yourself with a community of supporters who have your best interest at heart and want to see you succeed. Soon you’ll look back at all your challenges and understand it was part of the process. Keep going.

Be sure to enter our Fanm Djanm x Coco and Breezy Giveaway for an amazing opportunity to win three Fanm Djanm headwraps (Olu, Tumbao, and Smokey Quartz) + two Coco and Breezy specs! Giveaway ends on 2/10!