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Eyewear trends: green is a developing story

8th April 2024

At the eyewear fairs this season, the green colour story has continued to play an important role for men and women. Popular tones include emerald, electric, olive and nature-inspired verdant green varieties such as moss…many of the favourites that have appeared on the catwalks

Across the sun and optical lines this season, green tones have grown considerably with a wide selection of brights, naturals and deeper more intense tones incorporated into the Spring/Summer collections. Lime, acid green and lighter greens are having a particularly interesting evolution in frame design, as colour confidence rises in apparel in general and eyewear sees a growing success with mood-boosting hues, block colour and bright unexpected colour combinations. Above: a classic approach – Casablanca by L.G.R, pictured in emerald green, one of the most popular shades of green that we spotted at Mido 2024 in February (www.lgrworld.com)

Bio acetate model Narai by Gigi Studios is a lightweight classic shape from the Barcelona brand that comes in crystal green with brown anti-reflective UV protective lenses. This green variety with a translucent effect is particularly popular in eyewear because it is among the most versatile and flattering for most skin tones. www.gigistudios.com

Eyewear trends: a dopamine hit – BL0027 by VAVA Eyewear in an acid green inspired by Acid House – a feature of the new collection at VAVA

The green palette features plenty of acid tones for Spring/Summer 2024. These vibrant hues command attention in sunwear and eyewear, potentially providing an uplifting “energising” experience for the wearer who wants to express their mood or personality. www.vavaeyewear.com

WOOW Eyewear’s Super Dancer Sunglasses in a vibrant neon green

French eyewear brand WOOW released a collection for the season inspired by the dance floor, with “jazzy silhouettes, hip shapes and shock colours”. The Super Dancer Sunglasses are designed as masculine sunglasses which aim to reinvent the language of serious eyewear with playfulness – through colour. https://wooweyewear.com

MIDO 6-8 February 2027. Welcome to Eyewearland

SILMO Paris - The Optical Fair. 25th - 28th September 2026

LOFT Santa Monica Show October 16th and 17th

Green patterns featuring blue, brown and white flecks: Eat Street by OGI Eyewear

Model Eat Street by OGI Eyewear is an acetate design which combines a distinctive angular round shape with warm marbled colours including this fresh green patterned effect for the front paired with light green temples. www.ogi-eyewear.com

Struktur Eyewear’s The Legend combines dark olive green + grey

With its architectural form and green and grey combo, Struktur’s The Legend offers an original look for men or women, where form and colour go hand in hand in creating character and individuality in this statement piece. The way in which two colours are combined creates an interesting depth to the design: www.struktur-eyewear.fr

Graduated colour is also popular again this season. The women’s Magdalen style is characterised by a geometric shape softened by a curved nosepiece; the palette of gradient colour, including the green above, lends the frame an elegant, sophisticated air. www.blackfin.eu

Ørgreen Optics – model Upside in the HAVN collection – an all stainless steel line with an impressive colour application featuring two shades of green

Combinations of green with other colours – or with other shades of green are also being explored widely. Model Upside in the HAVN collection at Ørgreen Optics is an example of a two-toned green colour combination, featuring a matt effect electric green with a matt effect darker military green, a fresh and unexpected interplay of tones that delivers a sophisticated twist on the current wave of green-themed frames. www.orgreenoptics.com

Design + Inspiration

View from an expert: Kayla Heersink shares favourite moments in NYC

3rd April 2024

Kayla Heersink, the optician and eyewear aficionado behind the @optical_style account on Instagram – a curated page featuring all things creative in eyewear, visited New York City in March for Vision Expo East and LOFT NYC. During the weekend, she shared with us some personal insights and favourite discoveries among the brands from North America exhibiting at the events. Eyestylist.com presents a spectacular two-part editorial in collaboration with Kayla, with some exciting insights on what she found during her appointments in the city. Above: Kayla wears PRESS Eyewear’s Super Bass sunglasses.

1. What was your favourite event/studio visit or showroom viewing this year in NYC?
The CFDA Pride Eyewear Initiative event is really special. In honor of Pride Month, seven CFDA eyewear brands united to launch the 3rd annual edCFDA Pride Eyewear Initiative. The designers of Blake Kuwahara Eyewear, Christian Roth Eyewear, l.a.Eyeworks, PRESS, Barton Perreira, Selima Optique, and KREWE, will each offer a limited edition sunglass design, with a portion of proceeds collectively benefiting Bring Change to Mind.

edCFDA Collective – PRIDE Limited Edition sunglasses for 2024

Established in 2022, the edCFDA Pride Eyewear Initiative is an annual charitable venture driven by eyewear designers of the CFDA to target and highlight specific needs within the broad spectrum of the LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming community. With donations to LGBTQ+ causes totaling more than $100,000 in its first two years, an expansion from five to seven designers this season bodes well for a record-breaking year in 2024. “While it is the eyewear designers, with the CFDA’s support, who have piloted this outstanding effort, it is also a testament to the optical community – retailers and customers alike – who have embraced the importance of visibility for these causes,” notes Gai Gherardi, co-founder/designer of l.a.Eyeworks.

Proceeds from sales of the 2024 edCFDA Pride Eyewear Initiative will benefit Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) www.bringchange2mind.org, an organization dedicated to ending stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health.

VADA’s colour palette is fresh, youthful and often a little daring

2. At the shows, which were the iconic US brands you loved again for 2024 – and why?
I’m still obsessed with Vada. Designer and creative director Katie Caplener’s work draws from a deep well of ranging references, from ancient art to modern dance, neoclassicism to New Wave, and the obscurest of corners that exist in between. The VADA eyewear line that emerged from Katie’s fine jewelry background strives to create quality pieces, lasting outside of trends. VADA creates heirloom pieces to be cherished across generations.
In my opinion, this small batch eyewear brand has the best photos and storytelling. This year it’s all about Camp Vada, where you can see the influence of Katie’s southern roots. Inspired by action and adventure, Camp VADA builds its fire with an exploration of masculine energies for Collection 5. It’s little yin, big YANG, with three new styles and eight new high-octane colorways. Pitch a tent. Run a trotline. Get high on an Ozark mountain. Cannonball off the boat dock: Camp VADA is calling. A fitted ringer tee and a cigarette behind the bunkhouse. A psychotic sack race toward summertime. An acid-blotted biscuit in the duck blind. Color names like swamp, trout, and pearl snap, are complimented by “I pulled a fish from my ice hole” bumper stickers, and old school Vada trucker hat merch. Vada is somehow always simultaneously fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Like your cool older cousin, Vada knows what’s hot before you do.

VADA Eyewear: “VADA creates heirloom pieces to be cherished across generations….”

Vada has also recently released two special collaboration pieces with singer Leon Bridges. Channeling Bobby Womack, funkadelic hues, and best-dressed relative nostalgia, EARTHA and LEON are handmade in Japan with 8mm custom acetate and feature 18K gold-plated hardware. These frames feature a custom paisley-patterned core wire exclusive to this collaboration that is extraordinary. It was inspired by a scarf worn by Leon’s grandmother, Eartha.

3. Which are the most interesting emerging home-grown labels you are going to keep your eye on?
I’m really excited about the relaunch of American Optical. It is America’s oldest eyewear company, started in 1833. AO frames are being made in the same factory as State Optical, in Chicago Illinois. American Optical is bringing back the Saratoga, made famous by JFK, in addition to many of their other recognizable classics.

American Optical: an iconic US eyewear brand

The optical nerd in me got really amped seeing frames with 7 barrel hinges. The goal has been not only to bring eyewear manufacturing back to the US, but also to revive the lost vocation of the American Eyewear Artisan. YESSS!! The AO and STATE craftspeople undergo over six months of training before earning that title, working across all 75 steps of the proprietary AO and STATE manufacturing process. The pride that these 65 elite craftspeople exude can be felt in every frame.

Look out for Part 2 of this feature, which is packed with great recommendations – from @opticali_style – coming up soon! Follow @eyestylistmagazine + @opticali_style on Instagram for more information about the companies that Kayla visited.

Design + Inspiration

French eyewear – Lazare Studio: resurrected classics

2nd April 2024

The French optician turned eyewear designer Alexandre Caton has created an eyewear collection that continues to stand out from the crowd

An extraordinary depth of research and inspired product development, an understanding of the finest eyewear – old and new, and a fascination with the spectacle-making traditions of Japan….Alexandre Caton has applied his knowledge and passion for eyewear design, and his experience as an optician, producing each frame and sunglass design in the Lazare Studio collection as an expression of past classics refreshed “with a contemporary touch”; after just four years, this collection is available in some of the world’s finest fashion stores such as Dover Street Market, and eyewear stores of the highest repute. Above: detail of Nada by Lazare Studio, one of the latest sunglass styles to be added into the collection

Nada by French eyewear brand Lazare Studio, a 1980s inspired sunglass style

As the designer explains, each frame is the result of two worlds coming together: on the one hand, the Japanese element and the signature parts made out of materials which have been sourced from leading Japanese manufacturers, and on the other, the savoir-faire of the French artisans of the Jura, where craftsmen and women are trained in long-established skills and new cutting-edge technology. Added to this is a careful “physiological design approach” devised by Caton with focus on balanced lines and delicate weight distribution of the product, always adapted for the ideal comfort of the frame.

Model Rothstein by Lazare Studio; a finely crafted structure with elegant detailing

Inspired by the classic shapes of the 1970s, the new model Rothstein illustrates the use of 6mm milled Japanese acetate for the frame front, and details typical of the collection: the signature rivets, metal cores and refined hinge design.

Lazare Studio has committed to an environmental and socially responsible approach to production by choosing high-end suppliers working with care and conscience and selecting long-lasting and sustainable materials. The brand’s ultimate goal is to provide “timeless eyewear, built to last”. Find our more about the frames at www.lazare.studio

Reviews

French eyewear collab – Morel par Jean Nouvel: a fifth edition

25th March 2024

The collaboration series sees the addition of new iconic round frames, the favoured eyewear shape of the French architect

Architects have long turned their hand to design work and products in other realms, however small in size. In Morel’s latest collaboration designs produced with the architect, Jean Nouvel, the iconic round frame shape – in a variety of materials – is the focus of the line, an expression of bold simplicity, playing with dimensionality and volume. Above and below: 90045C “rim-to-rim” model from the Morel par Jean Nouvel collection

Morel par Jean Nouvel model *90045C –* the coloured rims are visible on the inside and outside of the frame

The 90045C “rim-to-rim” model, an all-acetate frame, features two coloured circles within a transparent structure, creating a design which is minimal and yet striking. The clean crisp crystal acetate material is a tone of particular interest again this year.

Morel par Jean Nouvel 90007C is a titanium design in this collection

The two-tone coloration is further explored in the titanium models in the series. The new model 90007C features two perfectly round (or pantos) coloured eye shapes connected with a bridge and temples in a contrasting tone. Unisex and universal, the frame is offered in different colour combinations, adapting to all styles, including red with black and gold with black.

The Morel par Jean Nouvel collection is available through selected opticians worldwide. The sunglass collection is now available at the Abu Dhabi Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a building designed by the architect Jean Nouvel in 2017. For more information: www.morel-france.com

Design + Inspiration

Eyewear trends: multicoloured effect

13th March 2024

Eyestylist.com – Now, more than ever, a patterned frame speaks volumes….our gorgeous selection of multicoloured designs is a tiny taste of a developing story

A complex patchwork of several colours combined together or a stunning acetate material with microscopic colour compositions, these new designs for Spring/Summer are characterised by a playful expression of multiple colours – some presenting analogous hues and others exploring contrasts in tones. The effects, which are closely linked to the tradition of tortoiseshell, Havana, marbleized or striated prints in acetate materials, offer a new modern aesthetic direction through the introduction of fashion-infused tones and surprising tonal combinations. Above: FACE A FACE model CARAR 2 in a colour combination called “Tortoise Granite Blue” – the frame has a patterned front with a red pop of colour on the top combined with bright blue temples – www.faceaface-paris.com

The modern qualities of the coloured acetate are perfectly illustrated in model Presto by Lafont Paris, one of several designs offering a multicoloured effect at the French eyewear brand this season. The attractive classic eye shape is available in a colourway that combines splashes of bright pink, several bold shades of blue and transparent crystal tones creating an artistic “fragmented” pattern with multiple “dots”.

Also among our picks of the season, model Pleyel is produced in an acetate with a more linear arrangement, with horizontal striations in an orange and bright purple mix. The electric pink temples add to the dramatic effect of colour. www.lafont.com

Eat Street by OGI Eyewear – featuring a distinctive linear pattern across the frame front

At OGI Eyewear, the Spring/Summer collection explores rich colour details – in charismatic eyewear shapes. Model Eat Street is an example of one of the premium acetate frames in the range, a combination of a distinctive angular round shape with warm marbled colours “full of dimension and grace.”

Lake Superior by OGI Eyewear in Blue Tort / Robin Blue Tortoise

Model Lake Superior – with its interesting geometric brow and rounded lower edge – comes in custom hand-laminated acetates which, across this collection, combine colour stories that are tasteful, expressive and eye-catching in a crowd. Find out more at www.ogieyewear.com – This trends feature was written for EYESTYLIST.COM – All rights reserved.