PORSCHE DESIGN SUNGLASSES

Engineering You Wear on Your Face: Porsche Design Sunglasses

What defines the brand and why choose it

There are luxury brands that were born from fashion. And there are luxury brands that were born from engineering. Porsche Design is the purest example of the second type in the global eyewear market. Its founder, Professor Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, was not a couturier or fashion designer: he was the engineer who in 1963 designed the Porsche 911, the most iconic industrial design object of the 20th century. When he founded Porsche Design in Stuttgart in 1972 — relocating the studio to Zell am See, Austria, in 1974 — his intention was not to create a luxury accessories brand in the conventional sense. It was to apply the same engineering rigour that had shaped the 911 to all objects of daily life: watches, luggage, pens, and eventually eyewear.

The founding principle — If you analyze the function of an object, its form often becomes obvious — is the cornerstone of every pair of glasses the studio has produced. There are no purely decorative elements in the Porsche Design collection. Every detail, every material, every mechanism has a technical reason to exist. The hexagonal screws on the P'8685 and P'8954 are not ornamental: they are an exact replica of the Tenax fasteners that secure the rear window of the 911 Targa. Japanese titanium was not chosen because it was luxurious: it was chosen because it has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal available, is biocompatible and does not corrode. Interchangeable lenses are not an aesthetic customisation offer: they are the engineering solution to the real problem of how a single pair of glasses can adapt to different light conditions without the user needing two pairs. Manufactured in Japan by Rodenstock — founded in 1877, 135 years of optical leadership, 50+ design awards. More than 170 international design awards total.

Styles and uses: the models that changed the industry

The P'8478 introduced in 1978 the world's first Quick Release interchangeable lens system: a rapid-release mechanism at the bridge allowing the teardrop titanium lenses to be swapped in seconds without tools. Four sizes — 60, 63, 66 and 69 mm — the largest producing the oversized aviator effect that has made it the collection's most iconic model. Worn by the Kardashian-Jenner family in all six members, Yoko Ono, Prince and Madonna. The P'8479 was the market's first visor/shield sunglass: a single large-format lens covering both eyes without visible bridge, the most futuristic design of the collection at launch and a direct influence on the entire shield category ever since. The P'8480 solves the storage problem: folding titanium sunglasses that collapse to 6 cm square without losing any technical properties. The P'8685 Hexagon: eight hexagonal screws inspired by a racing car engine block holding a solid titanium front, RXP® temples, polarised lenses, limited to 500 worldwide. The P'8954 Iconic Targa (2025): upper titanium arc replicating the 911 Targa roll bar, hexagonal screws referencing Tenax fasteners, 100% Japanese titanium, Vision Drive™ lenses, limited to 911 units. The P'86007 (2026), co-designed with brand ambassador Orlando Bloom: Shield-Protect construction, Vision Drive™ Polarized, three colourways.

Practical details: titanium, Vision Drive™ and Japanese manufacturing

Aerospace-grade Japanese titanium: higher mechanical strength than steel at 45% of its weight, biocompatible, non-corrosive. Metal model surfaces undergo multiple pressure-polishing cycles before satin or gloss finish — explaining the tactile and visual difference from any other titanium frame on the market. Vision Drive™: UV-A/B/C 400 protection, glare and reflection reduction optimised for driving, high-impact polycarbonate, contrast and colour fidelity enhancement. Vision Drive™ Polarized and Polarized XTR for extreme light conditions — water, snow, wet road. RXP® high-performance plastic on Fusion model temples: exceptional wearing comfort and optimal fit.

Awards, 3D printing and the 911 connection

More than 170 international design awards in over 50 years — including the Red Dot Design Award, the iF Product Design Award and the prestigious ISPO award for sports design — confirm that Porsche Design eyewear occupies a unique position at the intersection of engineering precision and aesthetic coherence.

The most technically advanced piece in the collection's history is the P'8950 50Y Iconic 3D, produced for the brand's 50th anniversary: the world's first eyewear frame manufactured by 3D-printing of titanium powder — high-tech titanium particles fused with laser energy, applied in thousands of fine layers to create a frame of constantly varying material thicknesses and dimensions. The result is a structure impossible to produce by conventional machining, produced entirely in Germany, that fuses the visual legacy of the P'8479 shield with manufacturing technology borrowed from aerospace and medical engineering. It is the most complete expression of the F.A. Porsche principle: the function determines the form, and if the function demands a form that cannot be achieved by conventional means, you find a new means.

Buying online at Visual-Click

Visual-Click is an authorised Porsche Design dealer and stocks the Porsche Design sunglasses collection with official warranty and international shipping. The team can advise on available models — P'8478, P'8479, P'8480, Targa, P'86007 — and on interchangeable lens systems and Vision Drive™ options.

Explore the collection

The P'8478 with its immortal Quick Release, the Targa architecture of the P'8954, the hexagonal engineering of the P'8685 — Porsche Design sunglasses at Visual-Click are proof that the best aesthetic solution always has a functional reason behind it. Find your Porsche Design sunglasses at Visual-Click.