![]() “Our whole lives they were like, `Oh, a cure is down the line, a cure is down the line.’ This one isn’t for us, but it is happening, and the Foundation Fighting Blindness kicked this off with just a tiny charitable gift to this brilliant researcher.” “It was mind boggling to us,” Bryan said. The brothers hit on the idea in 2015, when a gene therapy discovered by an underfunded researcher for an unrelated juvenile eye disease was about to hit the market. Ellen DeGeneres helped with one of her famous Shutterfly checks for $30,000.Īnd the sale of their mystery boxes, costing from $30 to $200, is now a social media phenomenon.Ĭustomers have included relatives of the blind, among them parents with vision impaired children some have posted unboxing videos on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, with a few opening boxes blindfolded. Since 2016, when they left their previous careers - Brad worked for an investment firm and Bryan sold software - they’ve picked up celebrity supporters like Ice-T and entrepreneur Richard Branson. You gotta embrace that … and in a very, very ironic way, sometimes your greatest hardships or your greatest challenges can actually be your greatest gifts.“We just wanted to try and help and raise awareness, and just do something good,” said Bryan. They all have their own challenges and their own things that make them different. ![]() To people who struggle with feeling “different” in some way like they once did, Brad and Bryan have some advice: Brad corrects him: “93 percent of everything.”Īnd who makes the final call when they don’t agree? “We actually probably agree on 95 percent of everything,” Bryan says. The brothers describe their clothes, which are expertly tailored and intricately crafted in the heart of New York City’s fashion district, as “sophisticated” and “noticeable yet understated.” All design decisions are informed with a New York influence, and by Brad and Bryan. The Two Blind Brothers have a unique edge in the current fashion scene because, as Brad put it, “people care tremendously about quality and feel these days.” That’s why the brothers’ mission for their own company is to produce “the softest clothing ever made.” For them the best shirt isn’t the fanciest or the priciest-it’s the softest. Until then, while most people shop with their eyes, Brad and Brian shop with their hands. All profits from the apparel sales are donated to life-changing research to cure blindness-and with treatments and cures around the corner, the brothers say there has never been a more exciting time for medicine. Unlike most fashion-district designers, Brad and Bryan aren’t in it for the money. What started as a “side charity project” is now The Two Blind Brothers, a clothing company based in the heart of New York City’s fashion district. Brad and Bryan grew up and decided they would play the cards they were dealt to their advantage, and have been doing so ever since. They wouldn’t let it get them down, though. They would live a life of darkness and never have a “normal” life. That’s where Bradford and Bryan Manning come in.Īfter both losing their vision to a progressive retinal eye disease at a young age, the two brothers faced what many people would see as an obstacle. The genes behind these conditions have been identified, and there are many pre-clinical projects investigating treatments. The only thing putting off the impending major medical revolution in eye disease is the considerable funding needed to prepare for and complete clinical trials. It’s a matter of finance, not science. ![]() ![]() “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” – Helen KellerĪfter nearly 40 years of research in retinal eye diseases that have left more than 10 million people visually impaired or blind, treatments and cures are in sight. ![]()
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