Shady Rays and Pappy & Co. Launch Limited-Edition Sunglasses Collaboration
Kentucky eyewear brand partners with bourbon family to create 999-piece collector's edition featuring hidden design references to Van Winkle heritage
Shady Rays and Pappy & Company have partnered to create the Pappy & Co. Special Reserve, a premium polarized sunglasses collection that translates elements of bourbon family history into wearable design. The collaboration marks the first time either brand has approached a licensed product through extensive narrative integration rather than surface-level branding.
The frame incorporates multiple references to the Van Winkle legacy. Filigree from the Pappy Van Winkle 20-Year label runs through the core wire inside the temples. Brass-inspired hardware references five keys that once hung on doors at Pappy's Stitzel-Weller Distillery, representing both hospitality and the five production steps in Pappy's bourbon-making process. That historical detail later inspired Pappy & Co.'s three-key logo, which represents Pappy's three great-granddaughters and current co-founders. The Pappy & Co. mark itself appears as a hidden detail inside the hinge, visible only when the temple opens.
Chris Ratterman, Founder and CEO of Shady Rays, said the partners rejected a traditional logo-placement approach. "From the beginning, we saw an opportunity to create something that felt authentic to both brands," Ratterman stated. "The Van Winkle name represents an extraordinary standard of craftsmanship, and we knew this couldn't simply be an existing frame with a different treatment. Every detail needed to be intentional and tell a piece of the story." Carrie Van Winkle Greener, great-granddaughter of Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle and co-founder of Pappy & Co., emphasized the family's commitment to intentionality: "Our great-grandfather believed that anything worth making was worth making well, and that philosophy continues to guide our family today."
The frame arrives in packaging designed as a replica of classic three-bottle case packs historically used to ship Van Winkle products to retailers. Inside sits a collector's box featuring the iconic Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20-Year label, along with a black hard case and a replica of the signature red velvet bag accompanying bottles of Pappy Van Winkle. The Collector's Edition uses premium acetate in Smoke Tortoise with Shady Rays' polarized lenses, with each frame individually numbered inside the temple.
The Pappy & Co. Special Reserve launches nationally September 30, 2026, exclusively at ShadyRays.com and PappyCo.com for $250, limited to one pair per customer. A pre-release will occur the evening of September 29 at Shady Rays' eight retail locations across the country, including Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky. Only 999 individually numbered pairs will be produced, with no additional production run planned. Purchasers gain entry into a sweepstakes offering the chance to win Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20 Year, with free entry methods also available. Proceeds support Blessings in a Backpack through Shady Rays Impact and align with Bourbon for Good, the Van Winkle family's charitable initiative.
The licensing strategy signals a broader shift in how heritage brands approach collaborative products: constructing layered narratives that reward repeated engagement rather than prominent logo placement. For both Shady Rays and Pappy & Co., the scarcity positioning and entry-level price point target the crossover demographic of bourbon collectors and premium eyewear consumers willing to invest in limited-production lifestyle goods.