Why A$AP Rocky expands Ray-Ban into Metal and Optical
A$AP Rocky has presented his debut metal eyewear collection for Ray-Ban, marking one year since he became the brand’s first Creative Director. The release introduces both sunglasses and, for the first time under his direction, optical frames. It arrives with a campaign film co-starring Nas, staged in a late-night New York diner and built around an exchange between two figures from different eras of American rap.
Ray-Ban, founded in 1937, remains one of the few eyewear brands whose silhouettes have consistently crossed military use, Hollywood cinema, and music culture. Styles such as the Aviator and Wayfarer shaped decades of visual identity. Rocky’s appointment formalised a longer-term creative role that moves beyond capsule collaborations. His first full collection therefore carries structural weight: it signals how a musician with established influence in fashion translates an archive into product.
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
A$AP Rocky
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
The metal collection draws directly from historic Ray-Ban shapes while adjusting proportion and construction. Soft oval frames sit alongside narrow rectangles, each rendered in classic metallic finishes. Several designs adopt rimless engineering, emphasising lens shape and reducing visible structure. A wraparound silhouette, available exclusively in selected stores, introduces a more futuristic line and extends the range into sport-informed territory. Material focus defines the collection. Metal frames replace acetate as the primary structural element, shifting the visual language toward sharper contours and lighter builds. In the rimless models, thick lenses heighten the geometry of the silhouette, creating a pronounced edge around otherwise minimal hardware. Across the line, the emphasis rests on proportion, lens thickness, and the tension between archival reference and present-day styling.
The campaign situates Rocky and Nas inside a New York diner, visually echoing 1990s iconography without turning the setting into nostalgia. Nas represents a generation that shaped East Coast rap’s visual and lyrical codes; Rocky has consistently revisited that era in his own fashion vocabulary. Placing both figures in dialogue positions the collection within a broader cultural lineage that connects Ray-Ban’s long-standing ties to music with contemporary authorship.
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
A$AP Rocky + Nas
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
RAY-BAN / A$AP ROCKY METAL COLLECTION
The inclusion of optical frames expands the scope of Rocky’s direction. Prescription eyewear functions as a daily object, extending beyond seasonal styling into routine wear. Integrating optical designs signals that the collection is embedded in Ray-Ban’s ongoing catalogue rather than framed as a limited collaboration.
After a year in the role, Rocky’s first metal line establishes a clear trajectory. It engages the brand’s archive through material and proportion, anchors itself in music history through casting, and extends into optical territory with practical intent. The result is a collection that operates inside Ray-Ban’s legacy while marking a distinct authorial imprint.
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RAY-BAN SS26