"I'm a great believer in what I call elegance of design. I feel that it is relatively easy to produce a complicated design and it's very difficult to produce a simple one." — Colin Chapman.

To honour Chapman’s enduring legacy, Renauld has partnered with Classic Team Lotus to create a limited edition sunglasses collection that celebrates the genius and talent of Colin Chapman: one of Formula One’s greatest innovators, an engineering genius and Lotus Team Boss.

Colin Chapman is arguably recognised as the greatest innovator in the 75 years of Formula One. He was an engineering genius who led the way in racing car design across four decades. His inspirational leadership of Team Lotus made it the dominant force in the Sixties and Seventies when Lotus racing drivers won the World Championship seven times.

Chapman was admired for his intelligence and unwavering logic – he possessed an instinctive sense of the right way to design and build cars – often characterised by their mathematical beauty, simplicity and lightness. Enzo Ferrari knew it was Chapman that he had to try to beat.

Bernie Ecclestone respected Chapman as the leading Formula One team boss in both the technical and the business aspects of F1. The best drivers in the world wanted to race his cars; Moss, Clark, Hill, Andretti, Rindt, Fittipaldi, Peterson and De Angelis won with Colin Chapman. Colin Chapman’s design principles were respected by his competitors and appreciated by the many brilliant Engineers he attracted to Team Lotus. These principles are captured by clever, pertinent observations made by Chapman to his colleagues, in print and on film.

Renauld’s heritage is profoundly interconnected with legendary figures from the world of Formula One and motor racing and we are thrilled to partake in a creative project that honours this extraordinary individual.

‘There’s nothing lighter than a hole’….is the cleverest of Chapman’s design principles and was used to encourage his designers to always keep in mind the number one objective of minimising weight. Chapman Innovators celebrate the sunglasses worn by Colin during the 1973 F1 season and capture this purest of principles with distinct repeat-holes punched into in the temple band to realise necessary strength and minimum weight.

The collection captures the bold style that Colin set in the F1 pitlane during the adventurous Seventies — celebrating both Colin’s exciting personality and brilliant engineering. During this flamboyant time, Colin also led the way in pitlane style, with his trademark black hat, striking attire and distinctive sunglasses.

Hand-assembled and crafted to exacting standards in Italy from the finest materials including 24ct yellow gold plate, Palladium and rose gold plate and the highest quality acetate in jet-black and tortoiseshell. Lenses — available in Cool Grey and Olive Green — feature the ACBC logo and are accompanied by a bespoke black and gold leather case in the official Team Lotus Colours, embossed with Colin’s signature and his distinctive personal ACBC monogram representing Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.