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Modo opened its M Factory in Brooklyn in 2016, fulfilling a decades-held dream for the Modo team. Today, Brooklyn Made, the collection produced at the M Factory, is one of Modo’s most popular collections. It continues to grow from strength to strength—just like the city it calls home.

New York City’s COVID-19 shutdown took its toll on the M Factory at first, but the Modo team got things up and running safely as soon as possible. Brian Dombrowski, Modo’s director of ECP sales and marketing told VM, “The pandemic certainly had an impact on business and our M Factory facility in Brooklyn. From the start of the pandemic through the present we have followed CDC guidelines regarding the opening of our facility for our workers along with testing and vaccination protocols.”





Throughout the worst of the pandemic in New York City, Modo also shifted its priorities to provide help where needed both locally and nationally. Modo both donated PPE to hospitals and schools in the tristate area, and also began selling it to ECPs across the country. Last year, reflecting on these donations, Dombrowski said, “We wanted to help get offices opened sooner rather than later and as a trusted partner to thousands of ECPs in the U.S., we felt an obligation to be a part of the solution.”

Rebecca Giefer, CEO, Americas for Modo, expressed the same sentiment, telling VM in 2020, “As an independent company, we were able to execute a pivot to deliver PPE to our customers and help them reopen and stay open. Our organization is made up of incredibly hard workers that adapted month after month whether it’s at the factory level or our Soho-based office team.”

Over the last 18 months, Dombrowski said Modo has seen an increase in interest in and demand for eyewear made in the USA. The demand has always been there, he said, but “we have definitely seen a sharper increase in demand over the last 18 months.” This seems to be part of a larger trend of consumers leaning toward American-made products, too. Dombrowski continued, “it seems the appetite for Made in USA product extends beyond eyewear from clothing to cars to eyewear and we are excited to be among the few eyewear makers in the country with our own factory; and remain excited that the Made In Brooklyn category for Modo continues to grow.”