The next cult favourite sunglasses brand is from Finland – the land of darkness

It tracks that Vincent Catani grew up in a home that revered sunglasses. The Helsinki-born, Copenhagen-based designer’s namesake sunglass brand has quickly become a favourite among Scandinavian street stylers and hip-hop stars, even appearing in the popular Danish Netflix film A Copenhagen Love Story. “My dad was a big collector of sunglasses – both for himself and for my mom,” says Catani, who describes his father as a sort of renaissance man, dabbling in everything from windsurfing to gardening. “My dad is one of those ‘cool dads’, according to my friends.” Catani’s father instilled in the designer a reverence for objects – sunglasses, shoes, watches – and the notion of timeless design.

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It’s this idea of timelessness that Catani brings to his eponymous brand. The seed for Vincent Catani was planted when the designer began sketching some rough ideas whilst working in fashion marketing. Then, with no formal design training or contacts in the finicky eyewear space, he set about researching with the vague goal of seeing if it’s “actually possible” to make his vision a physical product. “I learned from my dad, it should be a high-end product and something new, but also classic,” he says. “What got me excited was one day maybe achieving that timelessness.”

Catani’s research ultimately brought him to Japan. Inspired by luxury eyewear brand Jacques Marie Mage, Catani sought to offer handmade Japanese eyewear at a slightly more accessible price point. Ultimately, he found a Japanese production partner who could make his dreams a reality. He made his first samples and suddenly Vincent Catani was a bona fide brand.

For Catani, the trick is offering frames that are, as he puts it, “familiar”. These are not avant garde sunglasses for the impossibly fashion forward, but rather decadent everyday sunglasses with a twist. “I’m inspired by so many different things,” he says. “I’m a vintage car geek – so I take a lot of inspiration from, for example, the Cadillac profile.” Elsewhere, nods to '60s and '70s Hollywood interiors, in which long, narrow spaces were designed for fashion over function.

The latest collection, meanwhile, is inspired by “aerodynamics" and “how a bird flies”. Think sleek metal frames with gentle curved lines. Light as a feather and appropriate for everyday. The lenses, meanwhile, come in soft blues and gradient greens. Given that the brand is Scandinavian – a region known for its darkness, Catani is always mindful to include lighter-colour lenses in his collections (lenses are also easily replaceable, for those looking to wear the frames as everyday prescription glasses).

Already gaining traction amongst street stylers, Vincent Catani frames have also been worn onstage by beloved Finnish rap duo JVG. “They performed at a stadium concert and they were wearing my frames,” says Catani, proudly. Meanwhile, when beloved American rapper Joey Bada$$ performed in Copenhagen, Catani gifted him a pair. “He wore them on his Instagram,” notes Catani. Just this week, he reached another major milestone: his pieces have been picked up by Storm in Copenhagen – a boutique known for its taste-making.

Has Catani’s cool dad incorporated the frames into his well-curated rotation? “Oh, yes,” says Catani, smiling. “Immediately. He’s so happy.”