- Kenneth Hein, Brandweek

NEW YORK To help fuel the resurgence of its popular shades, Luxottica is launching a campaign in support of the Ray-Ban Wayfarer Color Collection.

Five pop artists were selected, under "Project Colorize," to come up with their interpretations of each of the brand's five new products.

Their creations, based on the pink, ice blue and other new styles of Wayfarers, will be featured on billboards around New York beginning next month.

The billboards, which are expected to draw 16 million impressions monthly, will be co-branded with Marie Claire magazine. The artists (Scott Alger, Queen Andrea, Ron English, Tara McPherson and Toofly) will be featured in an advertorial in next month's issue.

The ads will drive consumers to Rayban.com to learn more about the brand and the updates that have been made to the vintage shades, which originally debuted in 1952.

Wayfarers came back into style in the 1980s, thanks in part to The Blues Brothers, Tom Cruise in Risky Business and Don Henley's "Boys of Summer." They quickly became a relic by the '90s.

In tune with the return of '80s-influenced fashions, Luxottica reissued the original Wayfarers, in black and tortoise, in late 2006.

Ray-Ban spent $12 million on measured media last year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.