Loro Piana has long travelled the globe for the fibres which make up its superlative garments: vicuña from the heights of the Andes, cashmere from the plains of Mongolia, and merino wool from the lush green pastures of New Zealand.
A new sunglasses collection from the Italian fashion house looks to similarly distant shores, utilising Japan’s longtime expertise in eyewear – the world’s first titanium frames were made in Sabae, Fukai Prefecture in 1982 – to construct the limited-run opticals, which the house says are defined by a mood of ‘savoir-vivre’.
In the frame: Loro Piana’s made in Japan sunglasses collection
The process of gold-coating elements of the eywear collction
Drawing on the names of classic Loro Piana garments, from the André (the house’s classic linen shirt) to the Traveller (its perennial utility overjacket), the styles riff on enduring eyewear silhouettes – a reflection of the house’s particular brand of restrained elegance.
Though it is the emphasis on craft that elevates the sunglasses into the Loro Piana canon: the various lenses are crafted from optical glass refined with platinum for clarity and infused with ‘rare earth minerals’ for the distinctive hues (other lenses feature gradient finishes or are water repellent).
Frames, meanwhile, blend acetate and titanium – a nod to the sunglasses’ Japanese roots – and are finished with an engraved wire core, reminiscent of the house’s signature herringbone motif. At Loro Piana, everything returns to material – a continuing, continent-crossing journey to find the very best.
A version of this article appears in the June 2025 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.
Loro Piana sunglasses are available at loropiana.com.
The frame cutting process, which, like the rest of the manufacturing, takes place in Japan
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