Thistles Summer 2026 Eyewear Finds Its Light in LA

Thistles touches down in Los Angeles, embracing a sun-bleached spring-summer 2026 outing.

The Fashionisto

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Published May 13, 2026

Water cascades over Gabriel Jayne’s face as he wears brown-tinted sunglasses and a wet white button-up shirt against a teal stucco wall
Gabriel Jayne stars in the Thistles spring-summer 2026 campaign, wearing the SUEDE sunglasses. Photo: Thistle Brown / Thistles

New York eyewear label Thistles trades the East Coast for the golden haze of California in its spring-summer 2026 campaign. Captured by founder Thistle Brown, the collection sets itself against the sprawl of Los Angeles, a city of “impossible scale” where the freeway meets the mountains.

Thistles Spring/Summer 2026 Campaign

Gabriel Jayne reclines on sandy ground against a deep red wall, wearing black wraparound sunglasses, a long-sleeve black polo, and washed brown cargo pants
Gabriel wears the LEX sunglasses for the Thistles spring-summer 2026 campaign. Photo: Thistle Brown / Thistles

Production now happens in Italy, a shift that signals Thistles’ positioning in the luxury tier and arrives alongside two new silhouettes, the LEX and the SUEDE. Both frames favor a low, fast profile with a cinematic edge.

Gries leans out of a car window in a green A’s cap, black rectangular sunglasses, a pinstripe blazer, and an open white shirt
Jon Gries leans out of a car window in the SUEDE sunglasses for the spring-summer 2026 Thistles campaign. Photo: Thistle Brown / Thistles

From the heat off Sunset Boulevard to the haze over Mulholland at dusk, this season’s imagery works as a postcard of the “perfect in-between hour.” Casting for the spring-summer 2026 campaign pulls from Brown’s circle of friends and friends of friends, including actor Jon Gries and musician Gabriel Jayne.

Gabriel Jayne lets water pour over his dark hair while wearing low black wraparound sunglasses, with palm trees in the background
Gabriel wears the LEX sunglasses by Thistles. Photo: Thistle Brown / Thistles

The cast tracks the brand’s widening reach, from downtown music venues to prestige television. Thistles stays rooted in New York while its frames now belong to a wider American picture, one shaped by Pacific Coast Highway light and Italian construction.

Gries wears a navy Dodgers cap with Japanese lettering, black square sunglasses, and a white T-shirt against a wall of red bougainvillea
Jon Gries wears the SUEDE sunglasses from Thistles and a Dodgers cap against a wall of bougainvillea. Photo: Thistle Brown / Thistles
Black and white shot of Gabriel Jayne lifting a black long-sleeve top to reveal his torso, wearing wraparound sunglasses and washed cargo shorts
Close-up of a pair of translucent brown Thistles sunglasses with green-tinted lenses, hooked over the edge of a surfboard
Black Thistles sunglasses with dark lenses rest on the rail of a white and orange surfboard against a sandy beach

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