In a season of climate reckoning, Los Angeles eyewear label Oliver Peoples has partnered with artist Alex Israel on a charitable capsule that manages to be both civic-minded and image-conscious.
The frame in question, the Oliver Sun, gets a playful makeover courtesy of Israel, who retools its temple corewire with a surfboard fin motif and inserts a candy-colored logo homage to Deco-era signage and ‘80s graphic design. It is, like most things Israel touches, a little tongue-in-cheek, a little airbrushed for effect.
Oliver Peoples x Alex Israel
The Oliver Peoples campaign keeps its footprint close to home, photographed in Israel’s own Mid-City studio against one of his “Sky Backdrop” canvases. Celebrity participation arrives in algorithm-friendly doses: Diplo in clear frames and Eric Nam in all-black.
No one appears burdened by the weight of philanthropy. That mood suits the cause: all proceeds go toward Steadfast LA’s modular housing initiative, a post-wildfire relief effort that prioritizes permanent shelter over performative gestures.
At $675, the price tag could raise eyebrows, though the branding insists the sum is not for the frames, but the future. Still, what remains is the design vocabulary: fins, geometry, and SoCal nostalgia, all styled to sell a portable piece of Los Angeles mythology. Even disaster recovery, it seems, has an angle.
