Low-cut leather trousers with Hawaiian shirts unbuttoned to the waist, scanty swim shorts or a denim jacket with matching vest over a bare chest… Bunker Spreckels was an American surfing legend and undisputed style king of the surfing scene. His oversize plastic sunglasses with extra fat rims define the style of the era and were a hallmark of his eccentric look.

Some 40 years on the shape and colour of his distinctive specs inspire a new addition to the MYKITA & Bernhard Willhelm collection: SPRECKELS. Taking its name from the surfing style god, this oversize model also draws attention wherever it goes.

Photo by dommy.de / Source: Photocase.de

Mysterious, handsome and above all decadent, Bunker Spreckels was a highborn hedonist and exceptional surfer of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Heir to the Spreckels Sugar fortune and stepson to Clark Gable, he spent his childhood in Waikiki, which is where he learned to surf and eventually began shaping his own boards. Contributing to the short board revolution within surfing, he is also credited as one of the inventors of the ‘down’ rail, which became a fixture on practically all short boards. 

Distancing himself from his family for a time, the full-time surfer unexpectedly inherits the bulk of the family fortune aged only 21. Young Bunker Spreckels hits the fast lane of a rock n roll lifestyle; surfing while high on drugs, he develops a reputation as a notorious ladies man and non-stop party boy. Like so many bright, creative minds before and after him, Bunker Spreckels dies young, aged only 27.

MYKITA & Bernhard Willhelm SPRECKELS

The Seventies frame by MYKITA & Bernhard Willhelm takes its name from the style idol and features extended sides on the frame front for a weary, melancholic look. The glasses are available in three new colour editions for summer 2015: Beige/White with orange lenses, Dark Green/ White with green lenses and Smoke/Black with black lenses.

SPRECKELS is already available in all MYKITA Shops, in the MYKITA online shop and at selected opticians and fashion stores worldwide.