The Weeknd teases his highly-anticipated new track with legendary Swedish House Mafia, all while wearing Scandinavian It-brand Chimi Eyewear
The Weeknd has proven himself as a style icon once more. In a recent teaser trailer for his upcoming collaboration with legendary Scandi trio Swedish House Mafia, The Weeknd sported his usual large-framed, black sunglasses — or so we thought. This time around, The Weeknd, or Abel Tesfaye, took his love for everything Scandinavian one step further. Abel is wearing Chimi Eyewear.
Chimi’s The Magician frames, sleek, black and almost cat-eye shaped, were the piece de resistance in Tesfaye’s new video from the eyewear company’s now-classic Arcana collection. “My biggest source of inspiration has always been people close to me," Charlie Lindström, co-founder of Chimi Eyewear told Vogue Scandinavia regarding the inspiration behind The Magician shades.
"The creative director of this video, Alexander Wessley, is one of them. The Arcana Collection was created with big personalities in mind, inspired by three of the most powerful tarot cards. Therefore it feels especially right to see The Magician in this context since The Magician, as a card, is a symbol for power and potential,” he adds.
Power and potential is definitely the way we could describe The Weeknd, whose song Blinding Lights, was recently crowned the biggest Billboard Hot 100 song of all time. The collaboration also happens to be with two Swedes, namely Max Martin and Oscar Holter.
Clearly, the Weeknd’s favouritism towards Scandinavian creatives results in explosive pop records, which we expect to translate into the anticipated SHM collaboration that drops tomorrow. It is also fated that the Chimi glasses will be selling out, so I recommend nabbing a pair quicker than quick. I know I will.
The Magicians are a switch-up compared to the sunglasses Abel stuck to for the entirety of his 2020 album After Hours. He took direct inspiration from Scorsese’s Casino, with the now sold out Vintage Frames’ Ultra Goliath II Tortoise. The larger, rounded 1970s inspired frames with an amber tint accompanied the famous red suit to solidify the icon status of Abel’s persona during the running of After Hours.
However, as we are entering into the awaited Dawn era, Tesfaye has crossed over to the more modern, classic look. In the music video for the single Take My Breath Away, internet sleuths have pinpointed the Chrome Hearts’ Bjorn Again sunglasses with an orange tint as the star of the music video. This pair acts as the bridge between the two eras, with the orange hue reminding us of the Las Vegas’ inspired Heartless music video, and the black rims have us looking forward to the horizon of the Dawn.
The Weeknd announced his new 2022 stadium tour this week, After Hours til Dawn. A global stretch that is sure to be a cross-over between his masterpiece After Hours, which never hit the road due to the pandemic, and the new Dawn album.
Certain to be an all-out 1970s- and 1980s-inspired extravaganza, I would be surprised if we weren’t blinded by the lights… so make sure to bring your Chimi sunglasses to bask in the lasers at the post-pandemic show of the decade.