In Collaboration with Paul Newman

Alex Israel, Oliver Peoples,
and the Art of Giving Back

CAMPAIGN

Paul Newman by Oliver Peoples

A reimagined classic honoring the actor, motorist, and philanthropist who redefined American cinema.

Paul Newman seen at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
Photo by Roosevelt H. Carter/Getty Images.

The California sun illuminates the translucent acetates.

Paul Newman Sun is featured in Newman Blue with Carbon Grey lenses alongside the dedicated collaboration packaging.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

An Academy Award winner and renowned racecar driver, Paul Newman built a six-decade career in film, racing, and philanthropy that shaped a modern American archetype – one of rigor, elegance, and effortless cool. An August 1963 photograph captures Newman in a tailored suit, dark pilot frame sunglasses, and the early shadow of an unkempt beard, stylish signifiers of seriousness that feel almost protective. Photographed here at age 38, the actor was already instantly recognizable, a leading man in more than ten films, yet his reserve reads as a quiet plea to see the depth beneath the surface. Naturally, this earnestness only intensified his charm; it was Newman’s blend of craft, signature style, and disarming humility that made him so magnetic on-screen and off.

Oliver Peoples channels this attention to craft in their Paul Newman sunglasses and optical styles, where hidden details invite closer examination. Newman’s discovery of racing at 44 marked a surprising departure for an actor and director who could have comfortably relied on Hollywood acclaim. He competed as a racecar driver into his early 80s under the name “P. L. Newman,” initials used to deflect attention away from his celebrity on the track. In a nod to his racing alias, each Paul Newman frame conceals a metal temple cap engraved with ‘PLN,’ revealed only when the acetate temples fold. The pilot shape, defined by clean lines and a confident silhouette, is striking and timeless, balancing a bold acetate profile with design details that mirror Newman’s refined complexity.

To honor the legacy of Paul Newman, the actor, motorist, and philanthropist, on the anniversary of what would have been his 101st birthday, Oliver Peoples created the Paul Newman and Paul Newman Sun: eyewear styles built around hidden details and exclusive colorways that invite us to explore the layered complexity of the boundary-pushing Hollywood legend.

Paul Newman captured in the 1950’s. Photo by Art Zelin/Getty Images.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

Paul Newman frame is featured in Espresso with Honey Gradient lenses.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

In blue jeans and white crewneck T-shirts, a young Paul Newman wore a kind of effortless modesty. A student of acting teacher Lee Strasberg, he brought a disciplined sensitivity to his nuanced on-screen roles, bridging the glamour of the Golden Age studio system with the raw honesty of 1960s New Hollywood.

Early signs of this transition are evident in a suite of characters marked by charisma, moral ambiguity, and unguarded vulnerability. A dedicated Method actor, Newman drew on his own memories to access emotion on screen, and his portrayals of men with richly shaded inner lives offer fleeting glimpses into his own.

Paul Newman the motorist seen in 1974.
Photo by Bruce McBroom /Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

Paul Newman Sun is featured in Dark Amber Smoke with Regal Blue lenses.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

“… Paul Newman built a six-decade career in film, racing, and philanthropy that shaped a modern American archetype – one of rigor, elegance, and effortless cool.”

As he matured, Newman embraced the roles of director and philanthropist, founding Newman’s Own, a brand that gives all its profits in 1982, carrying with them both an earnest sense of responsibility and irreverence that paralleled his emergence as a mentor figure on screen. Wise and approachable, his elegant attention to detail shaped everything he touched, yet his self-deprecating humor became a defining trait: Newman joked that he had been admitted to the Actors Studio by mistake, and referenced his Midwestern upbringing with a wink, revealing a good‑old‑boy sensibility that belied his Yale education and reflective composure. He didn’t resent his good looks but deliberately chose roles that would not let them carry him. With a magnetism that felt effortless, Paul Newman was always charming, but never slick.

Paul Newman frame is highlighted in Tuscany Tortoise colorway.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

Paul Newman captured in 1963 for the film, Hud. Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

A young Paul Newman seen in a timeless white button-down. Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images.

Genuine Leather

$ 9999

His personal style balanced precision—crisp whites on set, tailored racing suits on the track—with the understated sophistication of denim, casual sportswear, and quality timepieces. The actor favored a palette of soft grays, navy, black, tan, and baby blue, captured by Oliver Peoples in their Paul Newman eyewear colorways, including an ice-colored wash lens aptly named Cool Blue. The striking frame also debuts a new hero acetate color, “Newman Blue,” a translucent blue tone that pays homage to the icon’s piercing eyes. Newman’s style, grounded in classic, well-cut pieces that conveyed confidence without ostentation, echoed the integrity and dedication that characterized his professional pursuits and philanthropic efforts through the Newman’s Own Foundation, which continues his legacy and uses all the profits and royalties it receives from the sale of Paul Newman and Newman’s Own products to help kids in need and their communities.

Paul Newman launched a style of leading man who was both glamorous and nuanced, and his racing and philanthropy shaped a new kind of icon whose timeless appeal was inseparable from his generosity. Gradually revealing the hidden depths of his inner life both on screen and off, Paul Newman’s career peeled back the polished surfaces of Hollywood’s Golden Age to reveal a naturalism that redefined American cinema. Captured in Oliver Peoples’ eyewear homage, his signature style reimagines contemporary masculinity: effortless, humble, and quietly charismatic.