Summer is sunglasses time, of course. And while we are great fans of the classics — and who doesn’t look good in a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers (as sported by Tom Cruise in Risky Business), American Optical Original Pilot aviators (as issued to the crew of Apollo 11 in their survival kits), Persol 714s (see Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair) or Vuarnet Legend 06s (thank you, 007 in No Time to Die) — there are new styles that are worth exploring.
Some of this summer’s models come care of collaborations, creating characterful mash-ups. The first that caught our eye, so to speak, is the Ray-Ban x Lenny Kravitz partnership, which has produced a “reverse” version of the US brand’s famous aviators. This style was designed in 1937 for American pilots and has become a classic. Last year Ray-Ban decided to play with it and introduced a concave lens in place of the usual convex one. Kravitz clearly enjoys the idea of reimagining the aviator: “It’s about breaking boundaries, embracing individuality and seeing the world from a new perspective through those innovative lenses.” The models come in black, chrome and a limited-edition gold version, and etched discreetly on the top of the left lens you’ll see the musician’s signature.
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But if lens bending strikes you as a little out-there, why not try a pair of Sunspel x Cutler and Gross shades? A British maker of elegant luxury casualwear for men, Sunspel was founded in 1860 and to this day manufactures T-shirts in its factory in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. The brand is all about quality, simplicity and a certain type of no-nonsense Britishness. It has, for example, made a couple of collections with Paul Weller, which were a modern take on mod-ish sporty knits.
Sunspel x Cutler and Gross Dark Turtle sunglasses, £395, sunspel.com
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Enter the Sunspel x Cutler and Gross sunglasses collaboration, a marriage made in British minimalist design heaven. Cutler and Gross is about a century younger than Sunspel, founded in 1969 by Graham Cutler and Tony Gross, who met while studying to become opticians, and its sunglasses are now handmade in Italy. The brand has developed a model for Sunspel with an acetate frame in dark brown, black or pewter with matching tonal lenses, a tapered temple with diamond-shaped rivets and a heavy brow line that gives it an air of old-school cool.
At the other end of the British sartorial spectrum sits Huntsman of Savile Row, established in 1849. A dive into this tailor’s ledgers reveals a host of stylish customers: Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Lawrence Olivier, Gregory Peck and Dirk Bogarde — and more recently the film director Matthew Vaughn, the creator of the Kingsman franchise for which Huntsman served as inspiration and location. (Incidentally, Cutler and Gross has an eyewear collaboration with Kingsman too.)
Huntsman x EB Meyrowitz Grosvenor sunglasses, £995, huntsmansavilerow.com
Now the Savile Row tailor comes together with EB Meyrowitz, an optician that was founded in 1875 and has its roots in making eyewear for early motorists, mountaineers and aviators. Today EB Meyrowitz is based in the Royal Arcade off Bond Street and handmakes its frames. For Huntsman it has imagined some archetypical designs in acetate: an aviator, a teardrop shape, a rectangular style and a round one. It’s a good selection designed to suit different face shapes, and each model oozes quality (witness the three gold pins on the temples of the Savoy and Grosvenor models). The tinted Zeiss lenses protect against UV and there is added back-coating to counteract the sun reflecting from the reverse of the lens into the eye.
MoMa x Keith Haring Club 57 sunglasses, $140, store.moma.org
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Finally, if it’s a more eccentric look you’re after, you can channel Keith Haring, the New York artist whose animated graphic imagery has become one of pop art’s enduring visual motifs. The MoMA in New York has collaborated with the Haring Foundation on a range of sunglasses: this eyewear is pleasingly quirky, with one style inspired by the glasses Haring wore and another with his dancing figures on the outside of each arm. The sunglasses are all handmade using a cellulose acetate that is eco-friendly, and a bonus is the Keith Haring cork leather case that each pair comes with, complete with a cloth for cleaning your lenses that features some of the artist’s artwork.
ray-ban.com; sunspel.com; huntsmansavilerow.com; store.moma.org
