Adidas Sunglasses 2026 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Sunglasses 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Adidas
Interviewee: Adidas Eyewear Brand Team

How was the sunglasses market overall in 2025?
In 2025 there was a big push in the sport world, specifically for our Performance cluster. We saw excellent results from our adidas Sport Eyewear Dunamis collection, which launched during the Paris 2024 Olympics. The first DUNAMIS model introduced a new era of technical eyewear built to support athletes with precision fit, enhanced visibility, and adaptive flexibility. The Dunamis Family continues to evolve, most recently with DUNAMIS BI, featuring high-contrast, mirrored lenses designed to improve visibility and reduce glare in bright, sunny conditions.

What new trends have you seen for sunglasses in board sports for 2026?
In 2026, rectangular silhouettes bring definition and form, but in gentler, approachable shades like cream, olive, and bone. These soft neutrals maintain clean lines while blending seamlessly with different outfits, seasons, and moods – replacing starker tones and softening impact. Minimalist frames are evolving to feel stronger without being loud or flashy – think functional yet understated. Oversized sunglasses continue to hold appeal, but exaggerated designs are losing favour. The focus now is on proportion, refinement, and sculptural quality – big frames that make a statement while remaining polished and wearable. Colour wise, burgundy emerges as a sophisticated, expressive alternative to standard blacks, browns and monochrome. Deep yet subtle, this hue provides just enough visual interest to elevate a look without being overwhelming, making it a fresh, modern neutral for 2026. Tortoise shell – while a classic – is also seeing a revival with rich shades of amber, espresso and burnt caramel becoming the go-to color story. These tones offer warmth and dimension across all seasons, are versatile and work as a year-round neutral – especially when paired with sculptural shapes.

Which segment of your 2026 offering do you expect to sell best and why?
We’re expecting our new hero families to be well received for 2026. The KAPHIROS SP0122, KENTRO SP0123, and ALKATOR SP0124 showcase a mix of lightweight performance and protective design, ranging from rimless for maximum flexibility and comfort, to full-rim for enhanced durability and protection. Built for active use, these models combine versatile frame designs with technical features such as photochromic lens options, metalised finishes, expanded fields of view for optimum performance, and clip-in compatibility.

What new frame shapes and colours are in your 2026 offer?
From bi-ocular sunglasses to rimless, full-rim and half-rim masks, we work closely with athletes to offer sunglasses that are stylish, comfortable, multifunctional and technical. With clean, simple designs, easy to wear shapes and comfortable fitting, the range is perfect for everyday adventure. For Spring/Summer 2026, our adidas Eyewear collection introduces a mix of technical frame constructions designed to suit different sporting needs. In terms of shapes, these are performance-led silhouettes – from the minimal, rimless KAPHIROS, designed with an expanded field of view for enhanced protection against the elements, to the more structured full-rim KENTRO, built for durability and stability during running. The ALKATOR completes the offer with a bold, wider profile that works particularly well for cycling, combining coverage with a strong visual identity. Colour-wise, the collection draws on wider sports industry trends while aligning with adidas’ seasonal palettes and event kits, creating a range that integrates seamlessly into a coordinated head-to-toe look for sporting moments and competitions.

Which lens technologies from your 2026 offer are most in demand?
We’re proud to offer high-quality lenses across all adidas Sport Eyewear collections, engineered for optimal vision, maximum comfort and total control. The latest collection includes a range of lens treatments, tailored to the needs of athletes, such as hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings to repel water and oil, and improve overall clarity. Our new POWERVIZN™ Lens System combines a specialised base tint with a precision mirror coating, tuned to optimise visibility for specific terrains and light conditions. Each color has its own function based on light condition and terrain, which allows athletes to choose accordingly- allowing sharper vision and stronger performance whatever their environment.

Have you introduced any new lens colours and tints in your 2026 offering?
As always, our collections feature evergreen frame colours, like matte black, along with fun seasonal colors inspired by adidas’ core collections and industry’s trends. Across the range, lenses come in a variety of finishes, with the new KAPHIROS, KENTRO and ALKATOR all available in striking metalised hues. These range from classic smoke to bold gold, red and blue mirror options – alongside performance-driven choices like photochromic violet and sleek silver mirror, combining style with technical function.

Any noteworthy sustainable practices in your production and shipping processes this year?
Remove this question if there is no update from Marcolin/adidas.

What are your marketing stories?
For 2026 our marketing narrative centres around the POWER YOUR VISION campaign – focusing on the new POWERVIZN™ Lens System. Every athlete’s journey starts with how they see the world – sharp, focused, and free from distraction. POWER YOUR VISION is about unlocking that clarity. It’s about eyewear that doesn’t just protect your eyes, but fuels your performance, empowering you to move with confidence, speed, and precision. Our hero product KENTRO (SP0123) – meaning determination and grit – perfectly encapsulates the spirit of adidas and its attitude, and highlights the importance of a focused mind and a strength that goes beyond the physical one. Through real athletes in real environments, we show how adidas Eyewear transforms vision into power – with every frame and lens designed to amplify focus, enhance performance, and unleash the freedom to go further.

How are you supporting retailers to sell this category?
Retail support is a key focus for us, and we approach it from both a commercial and marketing perspective. On the ground, we invest in training for our sales representatives so they can confidently communicate the technical features and performance benefits of the collection, while also gathering feedback from retailers to help shape and refine future ranges. From a marketing standpoint, we support the category through strong brand and athlete visibility across social media, helping drive awareness and demand that ultimately benefits our retail partners. This is complemented by a wider marketing push that includes collaborations with running communities, PR and media activity, and presence at key marathons and adidas brand events, ensuring the collection remains visible in the spaces where athletes and consumers engage most. At retail level, we provide practical tools to help bring the collection to life in-store, including point-of-purchase materials, window visuals and seasonal campaign assets. The range is also supported online through continued visibility on adidas.com, helping reinforce product awareness and drive consumers toward retail partners.

Key Products:

KENTRO SP0123:
The KENTRO SP0123 is a celebration of everyday running – easy to wear, comfortable, and built for performance. KENTRO features a full-rim frame designed to enhance durability and provide added protection from wind and impact – ideal for running. It combines a versatile design with options including photochromic lenses and sleek metalised SKUs. KENTRO – meaning determination and grit, perfectly encapsulates the spirit of adidas and highlights the importance of a focused mind and a strength that goes beyond the physical one.

SP0123

KAPHIROS SP0122:
The KAPHIROS SP0122 delivers an ultra-light, rimless design that prioritises flexibility and comfort, featuring a bending structure for adaptive fit and expanded field of view for optimum performance. KAPHIROS blends the Greek concepts “Chares”, grace and kindness, and “Zephiros”, a Greek west wind to capture the essence of movement and agility. Available in sleek metalised SKUs for a modern, performance-driven finish.

SP0125

ALKATOR SP0124:
The ALKATOR SP0124 features a full-rim construction that enhances rigidity while protecting against wind and impact. Designed with an expanded field of view, its technical features make it ideal for cycling, and offers compatibility with the SP5010-C clip-in as well as sleek metalised SKUs. Representing strength, power, and victory, ALKATOR emphasises adidas’ essence and its determinate attitude when it comes to sports and life in general.

SP0124