'A big deal for us': Trudeau sports P.E.I.-made sunglasses

Fellow Earthlings eyewear, made in the tiny rural P.E.I. community Guernsey Cove, has been spotted on a prominent Canadian celebrity — and the company couldn't be more thrilled.

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A CBC story about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trip to Vietnam this week featured a close-up photo of Trudeau adjusting his sunglasses — a vintage leather-covered aviator style called the Canadian by Fellow Earthlings.

It's a great opportunity to put the Mighty Island on the map.— Premier Wade MacLauchlan

"We just couldn't be more excited to have the most famous Canadian I can think of wearing a pair of the Fellow Earthlings Canadians," said Sydney Seggie, who owns the company with her husband Chris Seggie. 

"It's a big deal for us, for sure." 

The company gave the PM two pairs of its sunglasses this past June when he visited P.E.I., through Premier Wade MacLauchlan. 

MacLauchlan had recently wrapped up a tour of businesses in eastern P.E.I., and heard Seggie saying she'd love to give some sunglasses to Trudeau and his wife, Sophie.

When the PM said he was coming, the premier remembered Seggie's comment and asked her to forward them, promising to give them to Trudeau. 

"It was very thoughtful and cool of them," said Seggie. 

'So excited'

The premier made good on his promise. 

"I presented the Prime Minister with Aviator sunglasses from Fellow Earthlings," said MacLauchlan on his Facebook page, along with a photo of both he and Trudeau wearing the shades. 

"That was amazing and I thought as good as it will ever get," said Seggie.  

But just a week later, she was thrilled to see Trudeau don the shades again as he and his family headed to the G20 summit in Ireland. 

"We were so excited. There's never any guarantee someone will wear something that you give them," Seggie said. 

'Raise the fashion quotient'

The shot of Trudeau wearing the sunglasses again this week as he landed in Vietnam for trade meetings was the icing on the cake, Seggie said. 

"It's a great opportunity to put the Mighty Island on the map — and to raise the fashion quotient at the APEC meetings," the premier quipped about Thursday's photo. 

The sunglasses are vintage aviators with leather-covered frames made in P.E.I. by Tannereye in the 1980s. Fellow Earthlings lucked into a truckload of the frames last year and has been retailing the new old stock through their website and high-end retailers including Holt Renfrew. They retail for $300. 

Seggie has shared the images of Trudeau wearing the sunglasses on the company's social media. 

The company has been slowly expanding, said Seggie, hiring two new full-time employees over the summer. They're now poised to hire two more.

They've recently manufactured a line of sunglasses for London-based designer Adele Mildred (@adelemildred), a pair of which was spotted on celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D back in March. 

The only way this scenario could get any better, Seggie said, is to see Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau wear the second pair the company gifted the couple. 

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