If you’ve ever wondered if Leica is a little preoccupied with creating overly expensive items for people with too much money, you might be interested to check out their new sunglasses.
Leica recently announced its partnership with sunglasses manufacturer MYKITA and news of the highly-engineered eyewear has emerged. If artisanal sunglasses are your thing, you may wish to pre-order.
Leica’s press release announces two flavors: the first is a “pure stainless steel concept,” while the second is described as a “hybrid” because the frames comprise two different materials.
These hybrid frames include a “top bar” which “closes the gap between the frame and the wearer’s brow to protect eyes from overhead sun rays, mirroring the function of a camera lens hood.” It’s thought that Leica’s use of the lens hood mirrors the function of another groundbreaking piece of technology — the hat — which anthropologists believe was designed by early man to mirror the function of a hand being held to one's forehead.
Of course, it's easy to poke fun. These glasses are no doubt handcrafted to an incredibly high standard, taking advantage of Leica's ability to do nice things with glass. Prices are yet to be announced.
How many pairs will you buy? Leave a comment below.
Nah, im good with ray-bans
no thank you...same for the cameras...
If you're a sucker for a Leica, you're sucker for this.
$50 frames also have the 'top bar', without making a hilarious reference and a big fuss. Was this only in the new here because of the mentioning of the brand?
Woah! I'm buying one for every Leica camera I own... that's one... two... three... None, exactly none.
im almost sure the glasses are going to be produced by third party Luxotica. That brand makes almost all glasses brands.
Mykita frames are exceptional, I have been wearing them for years and highly recommend them. One of the feature I like the most is that they have an ingenious system on the hinges that does not use screws so there's nothing coming loose over time.
Like other luxury brands, Leica partner with companies to make a range of products for fans of the brand. Just like you can buy a Ferrari jacket or a Jaguar backpack. They already brand other products including leather goods and headphones (very good headphones too.). I’m sure other brands wish they could make some money for their camera division doing the same thing and in the past they have. I still have my Canon F1 team bag, made in the 80’s.
It’s always great fun to bash Leica because they’re so expensive and pushing for that “Prada” type market. But that’s why Leica seems to be growing in a rapidly shrinking marketplace. If it takes special editions, watches and sunglasses to keep them profitable while other camera divisions lose money hand over fist, so be it.
Gordon
P.s. I won’t be buying them. I break/lose sunnies too easily to spend that sort of money.