Jimmy Fallon's New 2-in-1 Sunglasses Give Him the Option to 'Be Frisky': 'I Have Tons of Weird Ideas'

The Tonight Show host partnered with Warby Parker on Flippies sunglasses to benefit Pupils Project

Jimmy Fallon x Warby Parker
Photo: Courtesy Warby Parker

Jimmy Fallon is a man of many talents.

The Tonight Show host and Saturday Night Live alum is quite the creative, always coming up with new ideas for his show and beyond. His latest invention is a two-in-one pair of sunglasses for Warby Parker. Called Flippies, these sunglasses are black on one side, blue on the other, and have earpieces that swivel 180 degrees to create two different pairs of sunglasses.

"I have tons of weird ideas," Fallon, 48, tells PEOPLE of his love of coming up with new things. He jotted down the rough sketch for Flippies — which he originally called Parker Warbies — in a notepad of ideas before firing it off to his friends at Warby Parker.

"With these, I don't have to carry two pairs of sunglasses," Fallon says of the reversible invention. "I have black for when I just feel like just going, 'No one bother me. I'm all good.' I have blue for when I want to be quirky, when I want to be frisky."

Jimmy Fallon x Warby Parker
Courtesy Warby Parker

While Fallon's original plan simply called for a "fun color" on the reverse side of the black, Warby Parker settled on its signature "Warby blue" shade.

"Leave it to Jimmy to think up a reversible pair of sunglasses," says Warby Parker co-founder and co-CEO Dave Gilboa. "It's unexpected but completely in line with our brand's mission to infuse fun, innovation and quirkiness into everything we do."

Fallon jokes that he came up with the "silly" idea for Flippies last summer and sent off an email to Gilboa and co-CEO and co-founder Neil Blumenthal, who he previously worked with for another invention, Spinnies. However, his email went unanswered for months.

"I thought, 'Okay, I can accept rejection, I'm fine. He's just not that into you.' I totally know that," Fallon tells PEOPLE exclusively. But once Blumenthal supposedly found the email in his spam folder — according to Fallon — the project was put into motion. The company created prototypes to Fallon's specifications and put them to the test to make sure they were exactly what they all wanted to release to consumers.

The result is available now on Warby Parker's website, starting at $95. But perhaps the best piece to Fallon's new creation is that 100% of his proceeds go to Pupils Project, an organization created by Warby Parker to help provide access to eye exams and eye health for schools.

"This project is a crusher," Fallon says of Pupils Project, while describing how beneficial it is to families who don't always have access to an eye doctor. "It just makes me so proud to work with them. It's a genius idea."

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Jimmy Fallon x Warby Parker
Courtesy Warby Parker

Flippies is Fallon's second collaboration with Warby Parker after his 2019 creation of Spinnies. The talk show host tells PEOPLE that he was standing in line at a Starbucks spinning his sunglasses around when he thought to himself that it would be nice if the earpieces actually spun on a ball bearing and "had a good whip" to them. Thus, the idea of Spinnies was born, and Warby Parker was into it.

Just like Flippies, proceeds from Spinnies were also donated to Pupils Project, which Fallon calls a "totally perfect" aspect of his ongoing collaboration with the eyewear brand.

"We couldn't wait to team up with Jimmy again — it's always a fun challenge to take his out-of-the-box eyewear ideas and make them a reality," Blumenthal says. "And his passion for doing good is contagious; this collaboration will benefit our Pupils Project program to ensure kids get the glasses they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond."

Fallon's desire to work with Warby Parker was born out of a respect for the brand, he says. After learning about Blumenthal and Gilboa's work through a favorite podcast, Fallon was hooked, and the brand was his first stop when the idea for Spinnies popped into his head.

"I like being around creative people," Fallon tells PEOPLE. "I like being around fun people and people that believe in your ideas and want to take it to the next level. I think Warby Parker and I are good partners."

Jimmy Fallon x Warby Parker
Courtesy Warby Parker

And while Spinnies satisfied Fallon's need for a fashion accessory to help in fidgety times, Flippies satisfy his wish to have two pairs of sunglasses on hand at all times. Though he admits his go-to sunglasses vibe is plain black or the occasional tortoiseshell, the Warby blue side of his Flippies add a bit of flair to his outfits.

"Flippies make you feel like a superhero with your alter ego," Fallon says. "You can wear the black side when you don't want anyone looking, but when you want to show people you're in a good mood, you flip. You let people know, 'You're about to run into a really fun person. I like them.'"

Fallon has plenty of other ideas up his sleeve — whether it's a new toy or a shirt that fixes a common and annoying problem — and even has more ideas for sunglasses. However, he says they all still need some work.

"It's so satisfying to come up with an idea that gets made," he says. "I just feel like if there's a hole I can fill with some of these silly ideas, it's really good for me and my brain. And if I can do something that also goes to charity? Genius."

Shop Fallon's Flippies at Warby Parker.

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