Continually pushing the boundaries of the pop universe, experimental diva Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez – aka Arca – has created a thrilling new story for the icon of icons, framing her multi-faceted talent with a custom craft leather & metal version of the original Aviator. Disruptive, trail blazing, perhaps even prophetic, in her art, Arca unravels the transversal complexities of gender with her transformational approach to expression, embodying the courage to defy all limits with original style – just as Ray-Ban always has.
Much more than a look, her irreverent vision of the music world frames a perspectival shift, pairing up with the Ray-Ban Aviator to chart new routes into a universe of off-track creativity. And in 2021, this trajectory has taken Arca’s enigmatic underground identity high-up into the big league, earning her a Glaad Media Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist, a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ and Latin Grammy nomination for her 2020 album KiCk ii and a Libera Award nomination for ‘Best Live Performance’.
Born in Venezuela and raised in the United States, Arca has always defied the concept of being defined by a single label. As a songwriter, composer, producer, DJ, singer and visual artist, her talent is that of a non-binary world: a mutant mix of avantgarde categories, both individual and collective, that goes from intelligent dance to industrial hip hop, mind-bending live performances to electronic drops and digital mixtapes, artificial intelligence to extreme humanity. Playing up daring juxtapositions, her collaborations with chart-topping names, including Björk and Kanye West, Frank Ocean and FKA twigs, continually explore and amplify the individualistic soul of collective inclusion. And this is exactly what the exclusive Arca X Ray-Ban Studios collab is about. Honoring her contradictory nature, the dark romance Arca has created ad hoc for Ray-Ban features her fascination for polar opposites and irresistible attractions. It is a sum of emotions, of horror
and adoration, that nurtures her mutant faith in love while flying in the face of hate and fear, framed by the authentic design of the Aviator.
Recontextualizing the iconic metal drop shape in larger than life size, Arca adds a distinctive touch of drama with shiny leather sweatbars and ever-changing photocromic lenses or mirror shades on two rigorously monotone color options that capture every tone between Black and White: The Vortex and Regenerator. And she packages them with just as much flair – wrapping the black patent leather case and dedicated leaflet in a broken mirror-effect silver box all featuring the artist’s trademark ARCA dripped-paint signature and a Reddest Ruby lips kiss.
For this exclusive, the boundary-breaking musician Arca recontextualizes the Aviator, harnessing the model’s timeless style and adding energy, drama and flair through oppositions. White and black, horror and romance. Choose between a classic silver frame with shiny white leather details, paired with gray photochromic lenses. Or a black frame with shiny black leather details, matched with dramatically black lenses.
The Regenerator
A classic silver frame with a double bridge and temple tips wrapped in shiny white leather. Paired with photochromic blue light filter lenses which shift from clear to gray when exposed to sunlight.
Vortex
A total black frame with a double bridge and temple tips wrapped in shiny black leather. Matched with dramatically black lenses.
Black and white. Horror and romance. Ancestral and futuristic. The two monochrome styles represent and redefine polarities within physical phenomena. Just 200 pairs available for each color available on Ray-Ban.com.
