New Brand: Sun Buddies

Words: Sebastian Nicu

After a turbulent spring, we’re slowly starting to experience a new kind of everyday life. Restaurants, cafés and beer gardens are reopening, the sun shines in our faces and we have only two questions: How do we look cool while keeping our distance? How do we protect our sensitive little eyes, which have barely seen anything other than the inside of our apartments in the past weeks?

A: Fly sunglasses
B: Disinfectants
C: Eye patches
D: What is sun?

Of course, the correct answer is A. But with sunglasses, there is a fine line between geography teacher and PhD in Stylology. If you’re looking for inspiration, take a look at our friends in Sweden, because they can do much more than just hot dogs and shelves. Especially the brothers Hannes and Simon Hogeman show how important Sweden is for the European fashion scene. In 2006, together with their friends Björn Lindén and Jakob Törnberg, the two of them founded Trés Bien, a menswear store that tears down the borders between streetwear and high fashion. With stores in Malmö and London, as well as their own fashion lines and collaborations, Trés Bien is now much more than just a clothing store.

But dominating the Swedish fashion world was not enough for the collective. That’s why they founded Sun Buddies, their own eyewear brand, in 2013. Inspired by the sunglasses worn by Bibi Andersson in Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 cult film Persona, it all started with TYPE 01. The four of them were uncompromising about their brand’s quality level: The handmade sunglasses came with the finest Carl Zeiss lenses. But it’s not just the quality of the products that impresses the fans, but also the funny stuff around them: Sun Buddies’ first campaign, for example, showed photos of their sunglasses crushed on the floor.

The project stirred up a buzz ever since. For example, there were series of sunglasses that were created together with fashion giants like Stüssy, Dover Street Market, Opening Ceremony and Carhartt WIP. No wonder, as the Hogeman brothers, Lindén and Törnberg like to surround themselves with artists and designers they call their Sun Buddies.

But their love for pop culture doesn’t stop with the Sun Buddies TYPE 01 and Persona. All of the gang’s sunglasses are inspired by musicians, actors and movies. At HHV you can now find styles with sonorous names like Aaliyah, E-40, Ozzy and Greta, visibly inspired by the favourite glasses of the people who gave them their names. So go ahead, visit us online or in Friedrichshain, get the sunglasses that best suit your personality and face – your eyes will appreciate it.