A great pair of sunglasses serves two purposes: to block out the sun, and your haters. Summer 2025’s rotation of tinted spectacles comes in a variety of lenses, colors, and shapes. Whether you’re on the hunt for your next signature style or just looking to expand your collection, here are a few notable suggestions for your beautiful face.
The best surfer in your friend group
A great pair of sunglasses is all you need to up your aura. Take it from the coolest person you know: your best friend’s older brother, or the local legend you went to high school with. Though you have no idea what they’re up to now, their Peter Pan-like approach to life and style has never left your moodboard. Check out the Brown The Great Frog Edition Soaring Eagle Sunglasses from Cutler and Gross, featuring fantastical silver daggers and eagles at the face and temples. Available exclusively to SSENSE, the Port Tanger Green Sayf Sunglasses take the liquid smoothness of their signature aviator shape in a cool shade of dark green. On the run from serving time in San Quentin with your motorcycle club? The Black Ascent Sunglasses from Akila are an homage to standard ’60s cool.
The New Playboy
You’re sly, sleek, and drive a menacing BMW down the Sunset Strip. When you’re not schmoozing your way into hotel pools, hustling your screenplay, or bringing your latest squeeze to your favorite Mexican restaurant that has a steak dish named after you, you need a great pair of shady specs to maintain your flow. The best sunglasses for the new Hollywood player take on an aerodynamic appeal: check out the SSENSE Exclusive Silver & Purple IO Sunglasses from Akila, featuring sporty purple lenses that give a nod to vintage ‘90s sportswear. Absorb the California sunset in the Orange Code Sunglasses from CHIMI, with their gradient brown lenses and warm hue of toasted orange.
The Hollywood Cocktail
Scorcese, Altman, Hopper, Thompson: no one has a reverence for New Hollywood, and the lacquered tortoiseshell allure of ’60s counterculture on the big screen, quite like you. Show off your appreciation for coupe glasses with thick-rimmed sunglasses that indulge in your industry city’s later golden era. The Khaki Aviator Slim Sunglasses from Loewe reimagine the beloved aviator in a transparent shade of smoky green-gray. Interested in a modern, marbled twist? The Beige & Gray Izipho Sunglasses by RETROSUPERFUTURE blend swirls of cream, orange, dandelion yellow, and graphite grey to create an eye-catching high-contrast effect on an acetate frame.
The Malibu Minimalist
Oblong and slim, you’re the hippie in the neighborhood. For the cubists, oracles, movement designers, and energy coordinators retreating to their outposts off PCH, you need a shielding pair of shades that are both sober and expressive. For a solid style that will survive a bounce around in the hostile environment of your Birkin (full of ginger candies, tarot cards, and a few emergency menthols), check out the Black Curvy Mask Acetate Sunglasses from Bottega Veneta. Reminiscent of the natural materials of your days in the desert handcrafting jewelry to put yourself through folk music and candlemaking studies, check out the Off-White ‘The Atlas’ Sunglasses from THISTLES in a luminous bone white.
