Style

These sports shades are nearly 100-percent recyclable and biodegradable

Marine Serre and Vuarnet use sand from French beaches to make the sunglasses.

French eyewear brand Vuarnet’s UV-protective sunglasses are an unbeatable staple for the sports crowd — but as any athlete knows, there’s always room for improvement. In its second collaboration with luxury label Marine Serre, the duo has created a pair of frames that doesn’t just protect your vision, it also prioritizes the planet. The new Visionizer sunglasses are constructed using completely natural, biodegradable, and recycled materials.

Nearly everything is sustainably sourced, but the shades don’t compromise on functionality or durability. Marine Serre and Vuarnet both have a knack for conscious manufacturing and use castor seeds as the main material for the lenses. As an homage to their French roots, the lenses are also made from 100 percent natural sand found on the outskirts of Paris.

Each eco-friendly component is backed by Vuarnet’s performance-ready guarantee and infuses Marine Serre’s affinity for luxury. While their first partnership featured minimal, wire-framed glasses built for low-light environments, their upcoming Visionizer mirror-lens glasses feature a retro aesthetic with monochrome black, tortoiseshell, and contrasting white-and-red options.

Vuarnet
Vuarnet
Vuarnet

On both the black and tortoiseshell versions of the sunglasses, Vuarnet uses its Lynx technology to protect the most sensitive parts of your eyes. The bi-layered, mirror mineral lens blocks out UV rays up top while also creating light reverberation lower down. The white pair is less sophisticated with a red tint and glare reduction, but all three are scratch-resistant.

Gas station chic — Unless you have a need for full-framed sunglasses, the popularity of oversized frames has been replaced by Lennon-like and clunky-chic glasses within the past few trend cycles. The new Visionizers aren’t loud or attention-drawing like other funky specs and let their subtlety do most of the talking. Some have even started to embrace the trend as “gas station” eyewear, referring to accessible and overlooked fashion in highway pit stops found far away from luxury.

The trio of Visionizers will be shipped in eco-friendly packaging to complete the brands’ mission of sustainability. They’re slated for a July 28 release via Marine Serre and Vuarnet’s respective websites.