Once Upon a Charm is an independent brand designed to help young patients embrace eyewear.

Created for girls ages 4 to 10, the collection combines premium cellulose acetate construction, lightweight comfort, spring hinges, and child-specific proportions with a patent-pending interchangeable charm system that allows wearers to customize their frames, for a more personal and less prescriptive experience.

The charms feature motifs that allow children to express their interests, such as mermaids, unicorns, fairies, rainbows, and puppies, as well as celebrate their milestones, imagination, friendship, courage, and personal achievements. They can be swapped quickly and transferred to future frame sizes as children grow.

The Fairy Whispers design in Twinkled Pink, pictured here, is an oval optical style with sparkle inclusions in the acetate.

Mermaid Wishes, shown here in Twinkled Purple, is a round optical style and also includes sparkle inclusions.

Whimsical Wonders in Twinkled Pink is an elongated oval shape in sparkly acetate.

Charm options and the interchangeable system are pictured here.  

The concept grew from founder Hayley Martin's experience searching for eyewear after her 4-year-old daughter was prescribed glasses. Finding few options that felt appropriately sized or emotionally engaging—and recognizing how difficult consistent wear could become after teasing at school—Martin set out to create frames girls would genuinely want to wear.

Beyond the product itself, Once Upon a Charm supports children's vision awareness through educational resources for parents that cover childhood vision conditions, visual development, and the importance of comprehensive eye examinations. Since its launch, the brand has also received recognition from the French Design Awards, MUSE Design Awards, and Tokyo Design Awards.

Head here for Hayley Martin's installment of The Inside View.