A Bold Case That Keeps Up

Warby Parker's first sports frames needed a case that could keep up with them. We designed a soft-structured PU leather envelope with a magnetic closure, taking notes from the classic Warby Parker rigid case — a familiar silhouette, rebuilt with beefed-up proportions and a fuller, pillowed profile that reads protective rather than precious.

The brief sat at an intersection: Warby Parker's established design language meeting a set of frames made for movement. We started by mapping the category — folded leather, soft molded foam, rigid plastic, hinged hardshell — and pressure-testing each against portability, materiality, and closure. Sports cases tend to resolve toward the technical: zippers, ballistic weaves, carabiners. We wanted something that felt like it belonged in the same world as the rest of the brand, and still disappeared into the bottom of a duffel.

Working from CAD and 3D prints of the frames themselves, we developed a series of distinct concepts across form, construction, and material before converging on the envelope. Its shape takes a quiet cue from vintage leather aviator cases — the softened corners, the generous flap, the sense that the object has been handled. Where the original case is crisp and flat, this one is inflated and rounded, with enough internal volume to receive a folded sport frame without forcing it.

The flap closes magnetically, so the case opens one-handed and stays shut in a bag. A debossed wordmark sits centered on the flap, tonal rather than contrasting. Inside, a microfiber lining protects the lenses and carries a small greeting. We also designed an optional carry strap that clips to the body, letting the case hang off a backpack or a belt loop when it isn't stowed in a bag. It didn't make it into mass production, but it's shown here as part of the system we developed.

The result is a case that holds its own next to technical gear without dressing up as it: soft in the hand, structured enough to protect, and unmistakably Warby Parker.