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From TIDE To MARI


Sometimes a product name is simply a name. And sometimes it comes to mean something much more.

When we first introduced Tide in November 2025, it represented something new for LiP. Its distinctive compact frame and clean, contemporary lines marked a departure from some of our more technical watersports designs, while retaining the performance, protection and security that sit at the heart of everything we make. But Tide was also the work of one particular member of our design team: Mari.

Mari was responsible for the design of the frame, shaping the model from its earliest development and bringing to it her own sense of proportion, style and detail. During the development of Tide, Mari became seriously ill with cancer. As her illness progressed, we began to think differently about the name that this particular design should carry. And the more we thought about it, the more her own name seemed to belong on the frame she had created.

MARI

Mari had a lifelong love of Italy and Italian design. She loved the flair, beauty and confidence that Italians bring to design – from Ferrari and Alessi to fashion, architecture and food. She spent a great deal of time in Milan, a city synonymous with design, and those experiences helped shape her own appreciation of form, proportion and aesthetics.

But there was another equally important part of Mari’s life – water. Mari grew up around watersports and had an extraordinary affinity with the water from an early age. She became the youngest professional aquarium diver in Taiwan’s history, and the sea and water remained an important part of her life. 

And that is what makes her name so appropriate. In Italian, mari means “seas” — the plural of mare, the sea. Her name somehow brings together the things she loved: Italy, beautiful design and the water.

For LiP, a company devoted to creating eyewear for life on the water, it is difficult to imagine a more fitting name for the last frame Mari designed. 

With the original production of Tide now sold through, we have therefore decided that all future production of the model will carry the name MARIThere is no need to erase Tide from the story. Tide was where this design began. MARI is where its story continues. From this point forward, every frame will carry the name of its designer – a small but permanent acknowledgement of the person who created it.

Introducing MARI

MARI retains the distinctive design philosophy that made Tide different: a compact, beautifully proportioned frame created particularly for people who find conventional sports eyewear too large or aggressive.

It remains unmistakably LiP – purpose-built for life on the water, engineered around eye protection and designed to stay comfortable and secure when conditions become anything but calm. But from now on, it carries a name that represents far more than the sea. It represents the person who designed it, the things that inspired her, and a small part of her story that will remain with LiP for as long as we make it.

MARI. For the seas. For the love of design. And for Mari.

From TIDE To MARI
MARI in Stone White with VIVIDE Rose Ice Blue lenses

The post From TIDE To MARI appeared first on LiP Sunglasses.

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