The brand stands at the intersection of beauty, advocacy, and healthy vision, blending charming frames with a deeper purpose: empowering children through early diagnosis and joyful self-expression.
(PRUnderground) October 7th, 2025
Once Upon a Charm, a new children’s eyewear brand, is redefining how girls experience glasses, turning them from something they have to wear into something they treasure.
With softly detailed frames and a patent-pending system of charms that gently snap on the frame’s temples, the brand blends comfort, style, and imagination.
Each charm design is one of a kind, originally sketched by the company’s founder, Hayley Martin, and inspired by the wonder of girlhood. The designs are molded and hand-painted, creating tiny, wearable works of art, as unique as the child who wears them.
The launch collection includes high-quality children’s eyeglass frames for girls between the ages of 4 and 9.
The frames are priced at $250, and each pair comes packaged with a case and two sets of interchangeable charms to get the child’s collection started (additional charms sold separately).
The company also offers prescription lens services, allowing families to submit their child’s prescription so glasses arrive ready to wear straight out of the box.
Behind the whimsy lies a deeper mission: to raise awareness of the hidden crisis of undiagnosed vision conditions in children.
“When my daughter was 4, a comprehensive eye exam revealed she had challenges with depth perception, eye teaming, and tracking,” Martin says. “Thanks to early detection and vision therapy, she gained the skills she needed to be more sure of herself before kindergarten even began.”
According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), 1 in 4 children has an undiagnosed vision problem, fueling a silent epidemic in classrooms, despite being highly treatable when caught early. These children are often misidentified as having ADHD, learning disorders, and/or behavioral challenges.
Dr. Katie Hash (OD, FOVDR and Once Upon a Charm brand ambassador) explains, “Vision is more than just seeing clearly, it’s how the eyes and the brain work together – and these skills are developed. The key to avoiding vision problems that could impact a child’s performance in school and sports is early identification and intervention.”
For many children, the primary challenge isn’t just diagnosing a vision problem; it’s getting them to wear their glasses.
“Kids often leave their glasses in their backpacks, or ‘forget’ to wear them, because they don’t like how they look in them,” says Martin. “Many of the frames we saw while choosing glasses for my daughter were barely scaled-down adult styles that were too overwhelming for a child’s features.
Even after we found glasses my daughter loved, a few teasing comments at school made her feel ashamed. That moment broke my heart and sparked my mission to reimagine glasses so beautiful, even girls who don’t need them would wish they did.”
With Once Upon a Charm eyewear, safety was just as important as beauty.
“The European Union has stricter material standards than the U.S.,” Martin explains. “We chose to meet those rigorous guidelines because I insist our products are not only beautiful, but so safe that I’d feel confident putting them on my own child.”
Once Upon a Charm was born with a dual mission: to make glasses girls want to wear, and to help other families uncover vision challenges before they impede learning.
For information and vision health resources, visit OnceUponaCharmEyewear.com.
To learn more about Hayley Martin or Once Upon a Charm, or to schedule an interview, contact Jason Myers at jason@contentfac.com.
About Once Upon A Charm Eyewear
Once Upon a Charm was born with a dual mission: to make glasses girls love, and want to wear, and to help other families uncover vision challenges before they become barriers to learning. This US startup is the passion project of a former Microsoft exec turned mompreneur who is dedicated to disrupting the children’s eyewear space one charm at a time.
Photos by Gaby Cavalcanti Photography for Once Upon a Charm
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Original Press Release.
