Choosing Between Acetate and Injection for a New Collection

Material selection is the first commercial decision in a frame programme. Acetate offers depth of colour and sculptural freedom; injection offers repeatability and unit economics at volume.

Acetate suits collections where colour development and hand finishing carry the brand story. Sheet and block acetate allow layered laminates that cannot be reproduced in a moulded polymer, and small runs remain viable because tooling investment is limited.

Injection materials such as TR90 reward volume. Once a tool exists, geometry is repeatable to tight tolerance and output scales predictably. The trade-off is the upfront tooling cost per shape and a narrower expressive range in colour.

A practical approach: develop hero styles in acetate to carry the identity of the collection, and use injection for the volume core where consistency and price matter more than material character.