Ray-Ban appoints A$AP Rocky as its first creative director

An iconic eyewear brand has a new creative icon at its helm.

Ray-Ban announced today that rapper and fashion trendsetter A$AP Rocky will be its first-ever creative director.

In his new role, Rocky will lead Ray-Ban Studios, a sub label of Ray-Ban that it calls “a creative hub celebrating self-expression.” More broadly, he’s tasked with reinventing and contemporizing the brand by overseeing creative projects including a new Blacked Out Collection, which will release in April. The collection redesigns iconic frames (think the Wayfarer and Clubmaster) with a brand-new black-out lens and gold-plated details.

“Today, we are welcoming A$AP Rocky into our family; he’s a visionary artist and creator,” Ray-Ban president Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio says in a statement. “His ability to push the boundaries of the diverse worlds he explores aligns with the Ray-Ban DNA. We are reinforcing the brand’s values of innovation, pioneering spirit, and courage.”

Rocky has a history of wearing Ray-Bans. Most recently, in what is now seemingly a tell of the collaboration to come, Rocky wore Ray-Bans to his trial for two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, which ended last week with a not guilty verdict.

He also wore Ray-Bans to his first-ever fashion show “American Sabotage” last summer. The announcement follows the release of Rocky’s fourth album “Don’t be Dumb” earlier this year. This isn’t his first foray into fashion collaborations, either. The rapper, 36, has previously collaborated with JW Anderson, Guess, Puma, and Moncler.

Rocky’s onboarding comes at a moment of growth for the eyewear brand’s parent company, EssilorLuxottica. The holding company acquired Supreme last July, and announced a long-term partnership with Meta last September. Time will tell if A$AP Rocky’s affiliation with Ray-Ban will have a positive knock-on effect for the Meta partnership.

That depends on whether he can counter public perception of Mark Zuckerberg, who has a Midas touch of uncool and makes everything in his arm’s reach turn cringe, including the Ray-Ban wayfarers that are the center of the EssilorLuxottica-Meta smartglasses partnership. EssilorLuxottica saw group revenue up 9.4% in Q4, and has sold two million smartglasses since launch, according to its most recent quarterly report.

Rocky’s creative leadership at Ray-Ban will extend beyond glasses design. He’ll also have a hand in the brand’s creative campaigns and redesign its retail stores, signaling a pivot point and an overhaul of the brand and its public perception at large. The company wrote that Rocky “joins in a critical time in the evolution of Ray-Ban,” in its announcement. EssilorLuxottica did not respond to a request for additional comment by time of publication.

“I’ve always admired Ray-Ban’s ability to stay true to its roots while constantly evolving,” Rocky said in a statement. “I’m excited to be part of the strong heritage and develop the next chapter for an iconic brand like Ray-Ban.”