The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. For Snap, the maker of the ephemeral messaging app Snapchat, it's preparing by making a new pair of sunglasses: Spectacles 3.

This isn’t Snap’s first rodeo. The company debuted the first version of Spectacles in 2016. Back then, they came in "fun" colors like bright teal and were sold out of pop-up vending machines. People went wild for them, until they didn't; Snap reportedly lost $40 million on unsold inventory. Two years of reengineering led to the second iteration: better hardware, and also better design. No more candy colors, no silly yellow rings around the camera lens. Then it rolled out a pair of high-design Spectacles, all black, that looked more like something you’d find at Net-a-Porter than Chuck E. Cheese.

With Spectacles 3, Snap continues this evolution. The new shades have steel frames and classic details, with upgraded tech too: two HD cameras for capturing footage with depth and dimension. Snap calls the premiere a “limited edition launch.” It wants the product to have a “premium” feel to match its $380 price tag. And Snap isn’t planning to sell a whole bunch of them, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Instead, Snap is playing the long game. Right now, Snap lives on the phone. But in the future, the phone might give way to another platform. Snap is betting that it will be eyewear—and in continuing to make its Spectacles, it's making sure it has a place in that future.

Snap Off

In the eight years since Snapchat was born, it’s gone through more than a few costume changes. First it was the app for sending nudes. Then it was more like WhatsApp, but with photos. Then it was for broadcasting and consuming the news. It’s also been for games, for music, and for scripted entertainment. For following the secret lives of celebrities, or for following your friends’ Bitmojis around a map. For experimenting with augmented reality. For turning yourself into a cartoon.

For the most part, Snapchat's users have been along for the ride, joining in on the experimentation at every turn. It enjoyed enough user loyalty to take the company public in 2017.

Snap

But since then, the hype seems to have cooled. Don’t be fooled—Snapchat is still wildly popular. In July, Snap's quarterly earnings report cited 13 million new users, many of them teenagers. (Through it all, the desire to send nudes persists.) But Snap knows it can’t count on the app forever, or even the phone. If it wants to stick around as a company, it needs to future-proof. Hence, sunglasses.