“Wait, slow down! I can’t see you!”
On an average Wednesday afternoon in New York City, I find myself striding down the streets of SoHo wearing some very unusual sunglasses. My co-worker Kya is a few feet in front of me, but it’s hard to keep an eye on him, let alone the sidewalk in front of me. I wear a Balenciaga 24/7 mask. This is a futuristic shield shade that appears to be half human and half robot. What they lack in basic peripheral vision, they make up for in other advanced senses. I can just feel the stares of strangers walking past me, many of whom are probably wondering, “What is that?” And why is he wearing it?
There’s a reason why I turned to such avant-garde accessories. Debuting on the label’s fall 2024 runway, I first noticed Balenciaga’s shield shades earlier this year and have been intrigued ever since. Your average sunscreen shade is not like that. The 24/7 mask requires the wearer to slip their ears into built-in ear holes. This means that once you put it on, it stays put. Wearing them requires some care and dedication, not to mention that vision is slightly impaired in 180 degrees of darkness. Sporting them means taking a little break from reality and the world in which we live. Only a portion is visible, and it’s even easier to block the parts you don’t want to see. I love this idea of fashion as a form of armor and protection, and I started thinking that it might be useful for the mundane commute. I’ll cue you for a test drive.
Photography: Kya
