Engearment

Devan Dowd

 

After working with Dragon Alliance this summer on the Rowan Polarized Lifestyle glasses, I was thrilled to take their beautifully crafted designs and bring them inside to help me with my day to day vision! Despite my best efforts (and a lot of carrots later) my eyes are finally starting to need a little extra love. So when I finally began to accept this sad realization, I figured I’d check out my favorite sunglasses brand to see if they translated their cutting edge design elements to prescription glasses with the DR9012 Style!

I am wearing a medium, in the Shiny Sap Green color (which conveniently matches my sunnies – can you tell what my favorite color is?). New to their product line, the frames are part of the Upcycled collection, which means they are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles, and have been designed in efforts to repurpose & upcycle single-use plastics. So not only are you able to improve your vision, you’re also playing a part in a larger sustainability effort!

Before diving into my favorite specs (pun intended) of these glasses, let’s take a minute to learn about Dragon Alliance’s origin story.

 

Born out of a surf-town garage in Capo Beach CA, DRAGON has been driven by its love for the sea, snow and land. Soon, DRAGON’s popularity and distribution expanded from Florida to Hawaii, reaching as far as Australia and Europe. Its technical design and rider-inspired styles have propelled DRAGON to become much more than the leading eyewear and accessories brand in the active lifestyle market. DRAGON symbolizes a quest for pushing our own boundaries while keeping the impact our adventures have on land and sea in sight. Not only is DRAGON recognized for its exceptional craftsmanship, they are driven to protect our home planet on their quest to be the best eyewear company out there. 

 

DRAGON continues to not only disrupt the status quo, but move with the current of more environmentally-conscious products and practices. The eco-friendly, ethically-sourced PLANT-BASED RESIN collection is made from sustainably grown castor beans; a cleaner, gentler alternative to traditional petroleum-based products. Their newest addition, UPCYCLED, repurposes single-use plastic bottles—five in every frame—for optical and sun styles that keep harmful plastic away from our landfills and oceans. We, along with our teams of surfers, snowboarders and skiers, are committed to reducing that which threatens to limit our views through the use of more sustainable materials, design and manufacturing.

You can learn more about Dragon Alliance’s story, technology & sustainability work here. 

 

So – what stood out the most to me about these glasses? First off, one of my favorite aspects was the beautifully designed color palette, leaning into the matte texture our family seems to gravitate towards. Beautiful color paired with premium quality is tough to beat. Not to mention the sustainability-forward frame build itself. As mentioned above, the DR9012 Style is part of the Upcycled Collection, so each frame is made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles. The frames in this collection are designed through a process that repurposes, or upcycles, single-use plastics, which also feature shiny and crystal colorations.

 

There are few things you should be aware of though with this specific model of Dragon eyeglasses. First, because the lenses are a niche shape (think cross-over between round & hexagon shaped), it is a bit boxy, and would have been nice to be able to try on prior to ordering. Although most of Dragon’s sunglasses have the virtual “try-on” feature, these ones unfortunately did not. Additionally, because of the unique shape, finding lenses to fit the frames was a bit difficult. Although it is called out on the website, it’s worth reiterating that frames purchased directly through Dragon Alliance’s website do not include your prescription. You will have to visit any optometrist to get the perfect lenses fitted for your frames.

 

Although I had some mixed takeaways for these glasses, I do believe strongly that the quality & brand behind the glasses is worth investigating if the DR9012 Style is for you! I believe it’ll be a personal preference based on the frame shape, as we had some friends who have these and they look AMAZING – it just depends on your preferences. But either way, the  DR9012 Style has reiterated the excellent brand continuity Dragon Alliance has to perform both indoors and outdoors! 

Devan Dowd

Growing up in Massachusetts, Devan has been an athlete all her life. Starting at the age of 4 as a competitive gymnast, she learned quickly the joy that comes from hard work, determination, and a jammed packed schedule. Eventually, gymnastics led to competitive lacrosse, which resulted in her growing some wings and heading to the PNW to pursue a DI College Lacrosse opportunity at the University of Oregon.

 

On the single off-day each week, she quickly learned to see Mother Earth as her playground and wanted to use every second of free time to find chase AOTDs (Adventures of the Days). These AOTDs were the inspiration for her blog Dabbling in Traveling & youtube channel. 

 

From waterfalls, to snow covered mountains, to sand dune hikes – one thing was certain, something always went awry on these AOTDs. But hey, memories were always made! Not only was UO an incredible college experience, Oregon sparked her love for the outdoors & traveling across the country for games helped introduce her to Colorado in 2014. Staring up at the Flatirons on CU Boulder’s campus, she knew one day she would call Colorado home! 

 

After returning to the east coast upon graduation, Devan’s heart never stopped longing to live in Colorado one day. But luckily the pandemic brought a newfound acceptance for remote work and in Nov. 2021 her dream came true!

 

By day, Devan is a Product Manager at Capital One. By afternoon, she is a personal trainer, coaching group Crossfit classes at Axistence Athletics (the best Adventure gym you will ever find!). By evening, she pours her heart into nonprofit work, specifically focused on driving sustainable change in Haiti through the Brace for Impact 46 organization (Fun fact – she has been traveling to Haiti since 2015, accumulating 7 trips and 7 months of living down there!). 

 

Brace for Impact works in Northern Haiti to provide sustainable, multifaceted approaches to support child development, education, medical care, job development, and implementation of clean water & sanitation across the community, which touches 40,000 people each day! (Want to learn more? Check out their website www.braceforimpact46.com )

 

As her friends would tell you (despite trying), Devan does not slow down and is always trying to fit AOTDs into each open moment. Whether it be hiking, paddleboarding, road-biking, running, Crossfitting, weight-lifting, snowboarding or simply exploring different parts of CO with her favorite furry friend Bailey & her husband Jeremy, it’s safe to say Devan has found her “Home” here in Colorado!

 

Fun fact – Devan had reconstructive hip surgery in 2016 (actually called a Periacetabular Osteotomy… but that’s a tongue twister). After a 22 month recovery period, she proved doctors wrong, returned to play her senior of lacrosse continues to use this experience as motivation to encourage everyone she interacts with to truly treat movement as a gift and to never take it for granted. With that being said, to keep her body active, she needs to make sure her gear can support her so she can remain #PAOStrong!

 

Devan is excited to join the Engearment team!