SunGod, the leading British performance eyewear brand, has announced a new official partnership with the McLaren Racing F1 team for the 2021 season.
Created in 2013 from a crowdfunding campaign, SunGod has gone on to become established as one of the world’s leading performance eyewear brands. Co-founded by husband and wife team, Ali and Zoe Watkiss, the British direct to consumer brand offers a complete line of both performance and lifestyle sunglasses, as well as a range performance snow goggles.
In celebration of the partnership, SunGod will be releasing a Limited Edition McLaren Racing model of their Renegades and Sierras sunglasses which will be used by the entire McLaren Racing F1 team for the 2021 season, and later editions designed by McLaren’s own F1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
The new variations of the Sierras and Renegades released as part of the launch will be available with Fire, and Smoke lenses. Each will utilise the recently launched 8KO lens technology – a new, higher grade nylon based lens material, resulting in a lighter lens and a higher level of optical precision compared to the industry standard polycarbonate..
The partnership represents a unification of the two British brands in their three core values of Innovation, Community and Sustainability. As two of the leading names within their respective fields, innovative design has been at the forefront of their mission statements; with McLaren’s design helping put Britain’s Lando Norris on the podium at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in April 2021, and SunGod leading the way in building fully custom, adventure-proof and impact-resistant frames.
SunGod’s unique business model of offering customised direct-to-consumer eyewear, with a lifetime guarantee against breakages, has seen them build a community of sustainability conscious consumers. In developing an environmentally friendly and customer-led culture, SunGod is set to achieve B-Corp certification this year. This matches well with McLaren Racing’s own environmental policies; being the first F1 team to be certified Carbon Neutral and committed to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2030 – the most ambitious target of any F1 Team to date.
CEO & Founder of SunGod, Ali Watkiss, said “We’re incredibly proud to be joining McLaren Racing for the 2021 season as an official partner. Balancing an unrivaled focus on performance with innovative ideas about how to make our future more sustainable, our brand ethos’ – and that of our communities – align perfectly. As a British company, we’re hugely excited to see superstars like Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo wearing SunGod sunglasses and wish them the best of luck in the coming season.”
Mark Waller, Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Racing, said: “SunGod are setting a new standard in the eyewear industry with sustainability at the heart of everything they do. SunGod’s alignment with McLaren comes in their identical passion for performance, innovation and sustainability, and therefore we are delighted to welcome SunGod. as a partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team from the 2021 Formula 1 season.”
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will be using SunGods throughout the 2021 season, and will also be launching their own limited edition models later in the summer.
For more information on the new range, and all of SunGod’s sunglasses, visit https://www.sungod.co/mclaren
