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Born and built in New York City beginning in 2016, Lowercase NYC is a newer American-made frame company, one that has been growing as quickly as the city it calls home. Every pair of Lowercase frames is made in the company’s Brooklyn factory, which is located in the famous Brooklyn Army Terminal and is often open for tours. Like other New York City-based businesses, Lowercase faced challenges in 2020—but, also like other NYC businesses, it has since bounced back, and continues to grow.





“The best way I can describe business over the past year and half is unpredictable,” founder Gerard Masci told VM. “Obviously, when everyone was sheltering in place business was very slow but even then we still had some orders coming in, as optical shops were considered essential businesses in all the geographies we sell to. That meant we had to dedicate one person on the team to be in charge of running our entire workshop on their own so there was no crossover between employees.”

Last year, Masci said that being made in New York City is the pillar of Lowercase’s businesses. “At the center of our approach was that we commit to making everything ourselves in NYC,” he said, and over the past five years, Masci has absolutely noticed an increased interest in and desire for American-made eyewear. This year, he said, “We have seen interest in Made in America grow consistently since we launched five years ago.”





That consistent growth in interest is also leading to a growth in Made in America companies, Lowercase included. “Since March we’ve seen a notable increase in the pace of orders. [We] have even needed to staff up to meet demand,” Masci said.