(L to R) Noel Diaz, Tatiana De Arruda and Javan Diaz.
NEWARK, N.J. and LOS ANGELES—In June, newly established independent eyewear company Cardine announced its official debut into the optical industry. Cardine was founded in 2025 by Tatiana De Arruda, an accomplished creative director who has held leadership roles at Marchon, Safilo and De Rigo and has designed for fashion houses including Bottega Veneta, Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein; and Noel and Javan Diaz, the father-and-son team behind the Santa Clarita, Calif.-based optical laboratory Simplify Optics. Cardine marks Noel and Javan’s first venture into the eyewear category; together, they have more than a century of combined optical lens expertise and a reputation for precision-crafted, locally produced work.
In an exclusive edition of VM Conversations, De Arruda, Noel and Javan discussed how they met, their decision to join forces and start a new company together, the process behind starting an eyewear company from scratch, and consumer response in an age when many are pulling back from spending.
Cardine is named for the Italian word for “hinge,” a name that dovetails with its mission to serve as a key connector within the optical industry, De Arruda explained. The eyewear company launched with a vision to champion independence through craftsmanship, quality and meaningful partnership, with a focus on supporting the success of independent practices.
“We pretty much cover most of the industry,” Javan Diaz said about the company’s founders. “From the design to product development to manufacturing lenses and laboratories, it encapsulates all of that.”
“We share the same vision,” De Arruda agreed. “We share the same values about the product, about the quality, about the craftsmanship.”
The decision to establish Cardine independently was central to its creation, De Arruda explained. “We felt the corporate structures, or licensing requirements, or budget restraints,” could hold back their “freedom to truly bring the right product… for everybody,” she said.
“We’ve worked on both sides, the corporate side and the independent side,” Javan said. “We really enjoy the autonomy and the freedom of the independent side: being able to be flexible and nimble, being able to truly, in a way, control that supply chain. If certain things arise, we can pivot in different ways. It’s just much quicker than the bigger guys can.”
Javan explained that this model has been successful for Simplify Optics on the laboratory side and has allowed them to provide more cohesive customer service. “All that speaks to what we thought we could bring over to the frame side as well,” he said. “We want to create a whole experience for the ECP, and the best way we felt to do that was to really keep the independence.”
In particular, Noel cited the issues labs run into when patients select a frame that cannot properly accommodate their prescription as a reason why he wanted to create his own eyewear collection. “We have the experience, we can get frames and we can detect what are the best prescriptions that can fit here,” he explained. By collaborating with De Arruda, Noel and Javan can translate that information into the frame design and brand communication, so doctors and patients both can have clear expectations regarding fitting lenses before they are sent to the lab.
Guided by a product-first mentality, Cardine emphasizes small-batch production and Japanese craftsmanship to deliver distinctive collections with good value and accessibility. LA-PA, Cardine’s inaugural optical and sunglasses collection, launched in August, with designs that draw inspiration from Los Angeles’ architecture and spirit. A second in-house brand, Jerry Perkins, will debut later this year, with designs that celebrate the artistry of Japanese craftsmanship, redefining vintage luxury through a modern lens. “Every single detail, there is a thought behind it,” De Arruda said. “We want to start and focus with these two brands first…to grow thoughtfully and not just grow big.”
In a time when some consumers are pulling back on spending, the Cardine team believes their collections will offer value and quality, positioning them to thrive in this market. “Consumers are purchasing with intentionality,” Javan said. “What we’re trying to do as an authentically independent and intentional company… we believe that consumers would be attracted to that kind of product.”
In tighter economic times, consumers “buy less, but buy more with purpose,” De Arruda echoed, a market that Cardine’s thoughtfully created eyewear collections are designed to fit into perfectly.
Right now, De Arruda, Noel and Javan are “focusing on the foundation,” of Cardine, Javan said, with eyes on the future. “The little things, the design starting with Tatiana, the supply chain, the testing in our lab. We focus on that well. I truly believe that the ECP will feel that and ultimately the patient.”
Watch Gwen Plummer’s full interview with the Cardine leadership team below.
