Vallon Sunglasses 2026 Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Sunglasses 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Vallon
Interviewee: Victoria Bushnell, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager

How was the sunglasses market overall in 2025?
We continued to see positive growth and performance in the sunglasses category for 2025.

What new trends have you seen for sunglasses in board sports for 2026?
We are seeing a lot more versatility in the shapes that people wear across all sports, not just board sports: sailors are wearing shields, cyclists are sporting aviator shapes. The style of the frame has become more important as an expression of the individual. Where we thrive in this space is sports lifestyle versatility – technical performance lenses – paired with frames that have iconic style and classic colorways. A pair of sunglasses you can wear by the coast, on the mountain, or in the city. People are also becoming increasingly educated on the importance of good quality lenses for eye protection, and eye/skin health. And they are putting more research into their purchases to make more informed decisions about lens tint, material, coatings, weight, and filters. We seek to meet this demand by offering high quality, performance-ready eyewear at affordable prices.

Which segment of your 2026 offering do you expect to sell best and why?
We are continuing to expand our Active Lifestyle collection, introducing new shapes for SS 2026. We believe this category will perform well as we are seeing strong demand for these styles that offer classic style, paired with sports performance. Our V52® lens technology provides exceptional optical clarity, and these frames come paired with a sports headstrap for great lifestyle and performance versatility. You can have maximum performance, without compromising on classic style.

What new frame shapes and colours are in your 2026 offer?
In terms of frame shapes, we are excited to be expanding our aviator collection with a timeless design, remade the VALLON way. These will be complemented by new shapes that offer something different for the lifestyle category. For colorways, we will be keeping to our core, classic colorways such as Tortoise and Horn, as well as expanding our Green frame selection, as this was a bestseller for 2025.

Which lens technologies from your 2026 offer are most in demand?
Our V52® lenses are popular both for their high-quality (exceptional clarity, 100% UVA400 protection, and impact resistance for sports), color filtration, and availability in both polarized and non-polarized options. You can learn more about our proprietary V52® nylon polyamide lenses here.

Have you introduced any new lens colours and tints in your 2026 offering?
Not for sunglasses, no.

Any noteworthy sustainable practices in your production and shipping processes this year?
We have continued our commitment to clean-up and recycle 1kg (2.2lbs) of plastic waste with every pair sold, with our new sustainability partner, CleanHub. You can learn more about the partnership here. We are excited to share that the Malizia Mangrove Project has surpassed their target of planting 2 million mangrove saplings. VALLON customers purchasing the Malizia sunglasses have played their part as for each pair of VALLON Malizia sunglasses sold, 10 mangrove plants are donated to the Malizia Mangrove Park. We continue to deliver all our sunglasses in plastic-free packaging.

What are your marketing stories?
We will continue to highlight stories from our community/the VALLON Sports Club, and have some exciting product collaborations in the pipeline. (Sadly we can’t disclose more information for now!).

How are you supporting retailers to sell this category?
We continue to support retailers with POS and marketing materials for in-store and online.

Key Products:

Heron Ocean:
Built for long days on the water, the Heron Ocean blend classic alpine style with modern performance. Weighing just 25g, they feature shatterproof polarized lenses with an anti-fog inner coating, genuine leather side shields, a removable centrepiece for ventilation, and adjustable temples for all-day comfort and security. Lightweight, protective, and salt-water ready. Made for chasing swells, sun, and coastal adventure.

Heron Ocean

Waylons:
A timeless round frame built for life between ocean and mountains. Crafted from premium lightweight acetate, the Waylons combine classic style with everyday performance. Available with polarized lenses in green, brown, or smoke tints for natural color vision. A detachable sports headstrap adds versatility. Secure during active sessions, effortless for daily wear.

Waylons

Watchtowers™:
An 80s-inspired shield design, engineered for high-performance. A ZEISS shield lens provides shatterproof protection and excellent clarity, paired with a hydro-oleophobic coating to repel water, sweat, and oil. Their frames are constructed from 85% recycled fishing nets, with flexible temple ends, and 3x interchangeable nose pads to optimize fit, stability, and ventilation.

Watchtowers