Photo: Alex Smolowe
Albee Layer and Bjorn Leines have both been respectively making my favorite surf and snowboard video parts for years. With regard to Bjorn, “decades” might be more accurate. And now, they’ve teamed up with a professionally good-looking dude in Alex Lundqvist and others who know more about eyewear than them to make my new favorite sunglasses: Ovan Rans.
The good looking dude sports good looking shades, amirite?
Anyway, what are Ovan Rans? Well, to understand what Ovan Rans are, I should first explain what Ovan Vision is. Ovan, which comes from a Scandinavian word meaning “an unspecified point above,” was the brainchild of aforementioned good-looking dude Alex Lundqvist. This good-looking dude has been in fashion for twenty-some-odd years, so it’s probably safe to assume that he knows a thing or two about style — and that know-how comes across in all four pairs of sunglasses from Ran (the pair my not-so-good-looking-but-arguably-passable self is sporting) to Bragi to Mani to LOFN. But what about substance? It has that in spades. Start with the eco-friendly materials which make up the hand-cut, shaped, and polished frames then move to the EMS Polyamide (with built-in polarization that, an Oleo-Phobic coating, and Anti-reflective coating) make up the lens. It’s style and substance show like an Albee Layer 540.
Yes, please.
Photo: Alex Smolowe
Beyond the nitty-gritty breakdown of what goes into the sunglasses, they simply fit and feel great. I have always had difficulty finding a good pair of sunglasses because most give me headaches with the pressure they apply at the bridge of my nose. Smith Optics Lowdowns, my old favorite sunglasses and “active types’ do-anything shades,” were the only ones that ever fit right and felt good. Until now.
Seriously, these are my new favorite sunglasses.
Here is a much less distracting view of them.
Photo: Ovan Vision
Ready to pull the trigger? Luckily for you, earlybirds get a $50 to $100 discount worm — depending on if you want goggles or sunglasses — for supporting their Kickstarter campaign. We didn’t mention goggles before? My bad; Ovan is also making goggles.
Photo: Ovan Vision
And if Bjorn’s often cringeworthy resilience is a sign of what’s to come, that background lends to a rather promising goggle design.
Take Forum’s True Life. That movie, specifically Bjorn’s part, was a major influencer in my development as not only a snowboarder but an unhinged individual.
And his Minnesota work ethic stood strong through a truly admirable career.
If there is still any doubt, they go really well with tacos — so Ovan has that going for them, which is nice.
Photo: Alex Smolowe
To support Ovan Vision, do so by heading on over to their Kickstarter campaign. And for more information, check out their website.
