Union of Surf Sunglasses 2026 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Sunglasses 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Union of Surf
Interviewee: Philippa Clark Founder Director

How was the sunglasses market overall in 2025?
For us at Union of Surf the sunglasses market in 2025 has shown strong growth with our brand identity and product offering really cutting through. While well-known global brands continue to dominate we carving out our own niche and we are seeing some great success. Filling a gap in the market with well-priced, design-led products has allowed for meaningful growth in what can otherwise feel like a saturated and relatively static category. Consumers are looking for alternatives that balance style, quality, and affordability without the premium price tag attached to heritage brands. The year-on-year growth of Union of Surf has highlighted a continued consumer appetite for accessible eyewear that aligns with lifestyle needs, while also reflecting a growing awareness around sustainability and more considered purchasing decisions.

What new trends have you seen for sunglasses in board sports for 2026
For 2026, the biggest shift is toward versatility. Sunglasses are no longer being designed purely for performance in isolation—they’re being designed to move between surf, travel, and everyday life. The aesthetic is becoming cleaner and more understated, with a strong focus on lightweight frames and polarised clarity. There’s also a growing preference for styles that feel natural rather than overly engineered, which aligns closely with our design identity.

Which segment of your 2026 offering do you expect to sell best and why?
Our move toward bio-acetate frames and active lifestyle-driven designs that support multi-purpose use across casual, leisure, and active wear. We’ve seen strong demand develop around frames that are not limited to a single use case. While customer search behaviour is becoming increasingly specific and intent-led—often focused on particular activities or features—the products that consistently perform best in reality are those that offer versatility in design and function. Multi-purpose shapes that work equally well for everyday wear, travel, and active environments continue to outperform more narrowly defined styles. The shift toward bio-acetate materials also reflects a wider consumer interest in more considered product choices, combining improved material story with comfort and durability. However, the key driver of success remains versatility. Frames that can transition seamlessly between different parts of a customer’s day—casual, leisure, and active use—deliver significantly higher perceived value. This versatility also plays an important role in the purchasing decision. When customers understand that a single frame can serve multiple purposes, it simplifies choice and strengthens confidence in the purchase. In a market where consumers are more selective, this ease of decision-making, combined with strong perceived value, is a major factor behind the performance of this segment in our 2026 collection.

What new frame shapes and colours are in your 2026 offer?
For our 2026 offer at Union of Surf, we’ve focused on evolving our core frame shapes while staying closely aligned with shifting consumer behaviour around fit and versatility. New shapes will include updated aviator-inspired styles, alongside circular frames and refined circular silhouettes with a subtle angulation across the brow line, giving a more modern, wearable edge to classic forms. Alongside this, we are introducing a stronger focus on smaller frame sizes across the range, particularly in classic colourways. This reflects a clear trend where customers are increasingly looking to make a statement through shape rather than colour this season, with proportion and fit becoming more important than bold tonal changes. Within the women’s range, we continue to see demand for a wider variety of shapes, spanning from square oversized frames through to more compact, smaller silhouettes, allowing for both expressive and minimal styling depending on preference. This versatility has become a key driver in the category. For SS26, we are also expanding into a dedicated kids polarised sports and active lifestyle range, designed specifically for summer use and everyday outdoor activity. This marks an important extension of the brand into more family-oriented product categories within a wholesale offering. Overall, the SS26 collection introduces 15 new options across the range, supporting a broader, more commercially balanced assortment. It’s a considered expansion rather than a reinvention, but an exciting step forward as we continue to develop the brand in line with evolving lifestyle and retail demand.

Which lens technologies from your 2026 offer are most in demand?
At Union of Surf, we’ve seen particularly strong demand in 2026 for the G15 lens, thanks to its balance of performance, comfort, and everyday versatility. The G15 lens—named for its classic green tint with ~15% light transmission—has become a go-to choice for customers who want a lens that performs well across a wide range of conditions without compromising visual clarity. One of its biggest advantages is true colour perception. Unlike some darker or heavily tinted lenses, G15 maintains natural colour balance, which reduces visual distortion and makes it ideal for activities where accurate colour recognition matters. It also offers excellent glare reduction and contrast enhancement, especially in bright outdoor environments. This makes it particularly appealing for driving, beach use, and water sports—key segments for Union of Surf customers. From a comfort standpoint, G15 lenses are known for reducing eye fatigue during prolonged exposure to sunlight. The tint filters harsh brightness while still allowing enough light through to keep vision relaxed and sharp. Where the G15 really stands out is its versatility:

Works well in both high-glare and moderate light conditions
Suitable for everyday wear, not just extreme sun
Complements a wide range of frame styles and fashion preferences
Appeals to both performance-driven users and lifestyle customers

In short, while advanced technologies like myopia control and digital lenses are driving innovation, the G15 lens continues to be a strong performer because it delivers reliable, all-around visual comfort—making it one of the most in-demand choices in our current offer.

Have you introduced any new lens colours and tints in your 2026 offering?
Yes, we’ve expanded our lens offering for 2026 with a clear focus on broader market appeal and style versatility. We’ve significantly increased the number of styles available with black, grey, and brown lenses, meaning most of the range now features a neutral lens option. This shift is particularly important for European markets, where black lenses are especially popular, allowing us to better align with regional preferences and drive wider appeal across collections. Looking ahead, we’re also introducing something new for Summer ’26: gradient lens colours. This will be our first time offering this style, adding a more fashion-forward option to the range while still maintaining everyday wearability.

Any noteworthy sustainable practices in your production and shipping processes this year?
Sustainability continues to be an important focus for us in 2026, particularly through the materials we use and how we package our products. We’ve introduced a new bio-acetate range, we still use FSC-certified wood laminates to construct the wood frames as the base material. This allows us to maintain the same look and feel as a conventional plastic frame, but with a key difference—the underlying material is a plant-based polymer rather than oil-based plastic, making it a more responsible alternative without compromising on style or durability. We’re also continuing to see strong demand for our cork cases, which have become a signature part of our offer. As a result, these are now included free with every pair purchased, providing a natural, renewable packaging solution that customers really value.

What are your marketing stories?
With only three summers under our belt, we have already seen rapid and significant growth online, clearly demonstrating strong demand for new product development and innovation. We have achieved steady year-on-year growth, which has enabled both the expansion of our product range and the strengthening of our wholesale offering. Our wholesale business has gained strong traction, particularly across the Australian, New Zealand, and USA markets. We are now increasingly focused on driving further wholesale growth within the EU and UK. At the same time, our website performance has supported global reach, with sales now extending into over 20 countries. Our strongest online markets outside the UK include the US, UAE, and EU, highlighting the significant international potential for continued wholesale expansion.

How are you supporting retailers to sell this category?
We support retailers in several key ways, with a focus on flexibility and responsiveness to their needs. This allows them to react quickly to consumer demand through short lead times and low MOQs. Our strong product margins and attractive RRPs help improve sell-through rates and overall profitability. In addition, our new wood aesthetic stands have proven popular in-store, enhancing visual merchandising and adding value to the product through eye-catching, premium displays.

Key Products:

Pipeline:

Pipeline

Jaws:

Jaws

Fistral Beach Polarised:

Fistral Beach Polarised