Back in the Myspace days, your “top eight” said everything about you. Now, BonBonWhims is bringing that same customizable spirit to eyewear by teaming up with GlassesUSA on a Y2K-inspired collection that lets wearers personalize their frames with magnetic charms.
“Just like the BonBonWhims jewelry pieces you know and love, we wanted to draw inspiration and elements from our childhood and adolescence and elevate them to be something wearable for adults,” said Clare Ngai-Howard, founder and chief executive officer of BonBonWhims.
The collection features 10 slim eyeglass and sunglass styles in pink, black and tortoise-shell colorways. Bringing in the brand’s signature Polly Pocket-esque aesthetic, the eyewear is accompanied by seven magnetic baubles — including hearts, butterflies, bows, lips and stars — motifs that are seen across the brand.
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The packaging hits on early internet-era themes as well, with a graphic of a pink Nokia-style phone on the box, for all your Paris Hilton-paparazzi-picture needs.
“For Millennials, there’s a real memory attached to it — AIM, Myspace, bulky phones, customizing everything you owned,” said Lihi Kopel, head of design at GlassesUSA. “For Gen Z, it’s almost an imagined world: an internet that looked more playful and personal than the one they grew up with.”
BonBonWhims started as a creative escape for the founder during the pandemic, the whimsical beading and trinkets struck a chord for many looking to self-expression as a source of joy. However, with the rise of bag charms and nostalgic jewelry, the brand has found staying power past 2020 and continues to expand.
After their “Log Back to Y2K” launch event on Saturday, the collection will be available on Monday exclusively at glassesUSA.com. Each $98 pair has four magnetic slots and seven charms included.
“Charms are already a big part of BonBonWhims. I love how something so small can bring personality and meaning to a piece of jewelry. Bringing that same idea to eyewear felt like a very natural next step,” Ngai-Howard said.
GlassesUSA, founded in 2008, is an eyewear retailer that offers prescription glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses. The company carries thousands of frames from designer labels including Ray-Ban, Gucci and Oakley, alongside its own private-label brands, such as Muse, Yoji and Revel. The company reached out to BonBonWhims to help them push eyewear into a more playful space, one that fuels adults’ sense of experimentation, which is reflected with the brand’s online revamp with a flash website-style landing page.
“I remember decorating my flip phone, hanging a dozen key chains from my phone and backpack and doodling in my school journal,” Ngai-Howard said. “Those little acts of self-expression are coming back in full force, and I think they resonate across generations because people want things that feel personal and bring them joy. This collection captures the nostalgia of the eyewear we wore as teens, with a gentle reminder that we’re all still kids at heart.”
