French President Emmanuel Macron took to the stage at Davos on Tuesday wearing a pair of off-message, blue-tinted, mirrored aviator sunglasses. Given that the World Economic Forum takes place indoors, his choice of eyewear is raising some eyebrows.
Macron was first spotted wearing sunglasses on Sunday for a meeting at Elysee Palace in Paris.
He explained the reflective glasses were to disguise a minor eye injury he had sustained after having been spotted with a heavily bloodshot right eye. At the palace, he played it down, calling the injury “just a trifle”.
Two days later, he arrived at Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum wearing the same glasses, kept on even while he was greeting other world leaders.
Initially, there was no official word on what brand of sunglasses Macron wore, but we were certain they were French or had a strong French connection.
We speculated they could be a pair of custom Vuarnet Horizon sunglasses. A heritage French company, known for its excellent eyewear, it was founded in 1957 by Olympic skier Jean Vuarnet and optician Roger Pouilloux. Handcrafted in France, the company is famed for its lenses made of natural minerals, which earned it the prestigious Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label for French quality.
A known fan of Vuarnet glasses, Macron even gifted a pair to former US President Joe Biden when he visited Elysee Palace in 2024.
Another option we considered was Louis Vuitton – part of one of the country's most powerful luxury conglomerates, LVMH.
The maison's Attitude Pilot sunglasses from the autumn/winter 2008 collection have a similar shape and style to Macron's pair.
It has now been confirmed that the glasses are by Maison Henry Jullien. Founded in 1921, the French eyewear house revealed that Macron has been wearing its Pacific S 01 model, first released in 2017.
Although the company passed into Italian ownership in 2023 under iVision Tech, the shades are still made in France. According to Reuters, the company initially sent the sunglasses as a gift, but the president insisted on paying for them and ensured they were made in France. News of the sighting sent the Milan-listed stock up nearly 6 per cent on Wednesday.
Macron is not the only French leader to make the headlines for wearing something showy. Nicolas Sarkozy, the country's president from 2007 to 2012, was fond of wearing Rolex watches and RayBan aviator sunglasses, earning him the nickname of “President Bling-Bling”.
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