Come to think of it, is it cool to wear any brand’s gear when you don’t have one of its cars?
by Chris Chilton
October 8, 2023 at 16:20
Most of us will never own a Bugatti. A Chiron starts at around $2 million, a ratty used Veyron will still set you back over a mill and even the ‘toy’ half-scale electric Type 35 built under license by the Little Car Company can cost $84,000.
But you can own a little slice of Bugatti without first having to rob a bank. You can wear a pair of shades from the brand’s Collection Two catalog of sunglasses. The question is, should you? Is wearing Bugatti sunglasses, or any automakers’ branded clothing, when you don’t own a car from the same brand simply a nice way to show your appreciation of that company, or does it just make you look like of those guys that rent supercars in the desperate hope that everyone will think it’s theirs?
As the name suggests, this is the second batch of eyewear designs from Bugatti, following on from Bugatti Collection One, which launched February 2023 in Milan. It consists of 16 different styles of shades created with fashion big-shot Larry Sands, most featuring design details inspired in some way by Bugatti’s cars, such as the red macaron emblem, laser cut radiator grill patterning, the iconic ‘EB’ logo and Ettore Bugatti’s signature. Collection Two was launched at the Silmo Paris optical expo last week, and although the first collection was only available though physical dealers, you can buy one from the new set at bugattieyewear.com.
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Though we said you wouldn’t need to rob a bank to buy a pair, you still might need to empty your account. These glasses are way beyond Ray Ban-expensive, ranging from $1,195 to $1,995, but then they justify that with more than a Bugatti logo. Luxury materials used in the manufacturing process include 925 sterling silver, carbon fiber, macassar ebony with mother of pearl inlays, grade 5 titanium, 18K gold and black palladium accents.
Related: Ferrari Hits The Catwalk With New Fashion Collection, Opens Restaurant Too
Some of the designs lean heavily on recognizable Bugatti cues while others let the basic design do the talking, and you’d have to be right up close to know they were Bugatti-branded glasses at all. This second approach seems to mirror one made by Ferrari, which still sells some nasty looking Puma trainers with prominent Scuderia shield emblems for F1 fans with no dress sense, but also recently branched out into the fashion space where it hopes to attract young buyers with little awareness of the brand and its automotive activities. Many of these Ferrari pieces feature either no visible Ferrari logos or branding, or they use them in a creative, even abstract way.
But is it cool to wear a pair of Bugatti sunglasses, or any brand’s branded gear, when you don’t have one of its cars? Maybe you don’t worry what everyone thinks and simple judge each pair of shades on merit. Or maybe you’d spend your $1,995 on a turbo conversion for your Chevy Spark and make do with a pair of cheap Chinese sunglasses from the market and try to avoid those eye-zapping UV rays. Either way, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
