5 Sunglasses Brands You MUST Stop Buying In 2026 (And 3 You Can Actually Trust)

Five sunglasses brands to stop buying in 2026, and three you can actually trust. Chapters: 0:00 — The Name Is the Markup 1:00 — Ray-Ban 3:41 — Costa Del Mar 6:56 — Prada 9:01 — Vogue Eyewear 10:27 — Quay Australia 12:45 — 3 Brands That Never Sold Out 13:13 — Randolph Engineering 15:40 — American Optical 18:08 — Knockaround 20:29 — The Verdict The sunglasses on your face cost a few dollars to make. Everything after that is a story you were told at the counter. Four of the five brands on this stop-buying list trace back to a single company, EssilorLuxottica, and the fifth just wraps a famous face around a cheaper pair. Then, three brands that never sold out, where the money goes into the glasses instead of the logo. We break down Ray-Ban, Costa Del Mar, Prada, Vogue Eyewear, and Quay Australia, and why Randolph Engineering, American Optical, and Knockaround still earn their price. Which of these five surprised you the most, and which brands do you actually trust? #sunglasses #eyewear #rayban #aviators #sunglassesreview #designersunglasses ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SOURCES: EssilorLuxottica ownership of Ray-Ban, Costa, Vogue Eyewear; Prada license - EssilorLuxottica brand portfolio Ray-Ban aviator history, Top Gun sales, Luxottica 1999 acquisition - Robb Report, Primer Costa Del Mar warranty class action, settlement vacated on appeal 2024 - Smith v. Miorelli (11th Cir.), ClassAction.org, Jacksonville Daily Record, FindLaw Costa 580 lens, lifetime-to-2-year warranty change - costadelmar.com Prada eyewear produced under license by EssilorLuxottica - Prada/EssilorLuxottica joint release Vogue Eyewear founded 1973, acquired by Luxottica 1990 - EssilorLuxottica, Wikipedia Quay Australia reviews and BBB rating - Better Business Bureau, ProductReview, Trustpilot Randolph Engineering military contract, HGU-4/P, family ownership - Wikipedia, randolphusa.com American Optical founded 1833, FG-58, Apollo 11, Smithsonian - aoeyewear.com, Optical Heritage Museum, Western Mass News Knockaround founding, PGA Tour partnership - knockaround.com, PGA Tour Every figure in this video comes from public sources. Subscribe so you never overpay again.