What brand of glasses was Clark Kent wearing in Smallville?

On 13th of May 2011 Clark Kent became Superman.

Actually, it was the day when The CW Television Network aired the final episode of the popular TV series Smallville. After 10 seasons/years young Clark had finally grown up and had decided that he needed to make the final step: from a clumsy newspaper reporter Clark Kent to the real Superman.

The series was quite successful, although it never broke into top 100 most popular shows in terms of ratings. Also, number of viewers steadily declined from around 6 to less than 3 million per episode.

The number of Smallville viewers and Smallville's ranking among all TV shows


Smallville follows the life of Clark Kent, from his teenage years in the town of Smallville, Kansas, through high school, college, and his start as a newspaper reporter at the Daily Planet. When he became a journalist he switched from jeans & jacket into more formal outfit. Apart from the suit he also wore black glasses (as in the Superman movies).

Clark Kent's glasses in Smallville (2011, The CW, screen capture)


I have to admit that I’ve only watched the second and the third season of Smallville, because the show became boring (at least for me). However, I’ve watched the series finale and noticed Clark’s glasses. I also have to admit that I love glasses with thick black frames, so after I had finished watching the show I immediately binged (hehe) what brand of glasses was Clark wearing. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything official or even unofficial. Probably the most accurate info was that Clark was wearing the Denison model by Oliver Peoples.

Oliver Peoples glasses - model Denison


Well, to confirm or deny the info I’ve decided to ask Oliver Peoples and CW Network about it via Twitter. The response from Oliver Peoples was incredibly quick. Here’s our conversation:

BrandsAndFilms: @oliver_peoples I have a question for you: was Clark Kent in Smallville wearing Oliver Peoples Denison model?

Oliver Peoples: @BrandsAndFilms It sure looks like Clark is wearing Denison in Smallville, but we can’t confirm… :(

BrandsAndFilms: @oliver_peoples Thanx. If I understand correctly it wasn’t paid or agreed product placement?

Oliver Peoples: @BrandsAndFilms Correct! If it is the Denison, we did not work w/ a stylist to place it (and def didn’t pay). We’d love confirmation, tho!

I didn’t get any reply from the CW Network :(

What can we say about glasses product placement in Smallville? Was it a lost opportunity? I believe it was.

Even though Smallville ratings were gradually declining, 2.97 million viewers watched the series finale. As I said Smallville wasn’t the most successful TV series ever, but it had a substantial number of loyal viewers.

And there’s more: glasses are one of the main components of Clark’s journalist ‘camouflage’ and we could say that producers just missed an opportunity for a successful product placement. I don’t want to speculate about the reasons behind that decision, because I didn’t get any answer from CW, but the feeling that something should have been done with the glasses still remains.

You can find more pics of Clark Kent’s and Lois Lane’s glasses from Smallville on Brands&Films Facebook page .


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6 Comments

  1. hmm i don’t think that’s the oliver peoples denison, the eye size isn’t deep enough on the denison.

  4. It’s not Ndg (too big, not the same nose, not the same frame) …

    It’s very difficult to find the brand and the model …. :( !!

  5. I just contacted oliver peoples they think it is indeed the NDG-1 frame…however to be honest I like the denison frame better….the NDG-1 is not there most attractive frame but I do feel it could be the one worn by clark kent…anyone else have thoughts…so far people think it is florenz, blinde, denison, and NDG-1 it is def frustrating to find which one it is exactly…anyway which is the best frame to get!!??