Berenford Sunglasses Are Now Available In The Petrolicious Shop

Browse the Shop’s collection of Berenford here.

When it comes to company origin stories, some are bound to be a bit more interesting than others. Most follow the typical course of shrewd planning, pored-over spreadsheets, and forests of paperwork, but sometimes they come into existence from the kinds of chance happenings and serendipities only found in fiction. In the case of Berenford Sunglasses, it all started when a renovation of a villa in Cannes uncovered an old suitcase.

Inside the stately, stylish luggage were preserved letters, notes, photographs, mementos, and other possessions belonging to a Sir Berenford of the Royal Air Force. A pilot during the second world war, Berenford was from the era when the jet-set crowd was coming into its own, and to be a true international playboy required one to be equally adept on the slopes of St. Moritz as they were on the beaches of Rio. The post-war decade was a celebration of bold shapes and colors, and fashion became an important piece of social life once more. While digging into the life and surroundings of Sir Berenford, the two creatives who found his old suitcase became enamored with the aesthetics of the era.

Channeling this now-retro style, Berenford has created a range of eyewear that blends the deco decadence of the past with an updated range of finishes and subtly altered forms of the period’s prominent designs. These are subtle evolutions rather than reinventions, and as they put it, “Berenford aims to re-invent classic styles from the historical memory by giving them a modern point of view.” Think Sean Connery without the misogyny.

Berenford’s been busy since the two founders discovered that suitcase, and they’ve created a range of sunglasses to provide that same Café Society style that came into vogue so long ago and has yet to really fall out since. Tasteful, chic, and decidedly vintage, Petrolicious is proud to carry a selection of Berenford eyewear in the Shop.

Browse the Shop’s collection of Berenford here. 

Above: Air-Yacht

Above: Le Mans

Above: Cuba

Above: Les Salins