In Uncertain Times, Shield Shades Are the Armor We Need

“Wait, slow down! I can’t see!”

It’s an average Wednesday afternoon in New York City, and I am strutting around the streets of SoHo in a very non-average pair of sunglasses. My co-worker, Kya, is just a few feet in front of me, but I’m having trouble keeping tabs on him, let alone the sidewalk directly in front of me. I’m wearing Balenciaga’s 24/7 Mask—futuristic pair of shield shades that make me feel half-human, half-robot. What I lack in basic peripheral vision, I make up for in other heightened senses: I can just feel the gazes of strangers as they walk past me, many of whom are likely wondering, What the hell are those? And why is he wearing them?

There is a reason why I have slipped into such an avant-garde accessory. Debuting on the label’s fall 2024 runway, I first noticed the Balenciaga shield shades earlier this year, and have been intrigued by them ever since. Average sun-blocking shades these are not: The 24/7 Mask requires the wearer to slip one’s ears into built-in earholes—meaning once you put them on, they are on. There is a level of commitment and dedication to wearing them, not to mention the 180-degrees of darkness slightly impairs your vision. To sport them is to slightly remove yourself from reality and the world we live in; you only see parts of it, and it is even easier to block out the parts you don’t wish to see. I loved this idea of fashion as a form of armor and protection, and began to wonder if they could be conducive to a mundane work day commute. Cue the test-drive.