Eyestylist

Eyewear trends – Blue tones have taken on fresh appeal in eyewear for the 2024 Spring/Summer season coming up, with playful combinations, pale and dark choices, and translucent and opaque tonal variations adding nuance to the palette ….

Flattering blue tones have caught our eye this month. The latest collections we reviewed at Mido in Milan this month made a feature of an interesting variety of blue colour stories with a definite influence from glowing catwalk tones where different blues were paired together, and light turquoise and dark elegant navy were just as popular for a Springtime re-fresh. Above: Policromie from Lamarca Eyewear in Italy: a men’s collection which plays with elegant inserts and transparencies; two blue tones are combined gracefully in one design – model 140. https://lamarcaeyewear.com

OGI Eyewear’s beautifully named Lady Slipper “butterfly” design is named after a Minnesota flower. The Blue/Blue robin tortoise colourway is on point in the delicacy of the blue tones selected in the combo – a colour pairing that highlights a blue flecked tortoise with an artistic touch on the brow. www.ogieeyewear.com

Produced in acrylic with Alpaca temples, the Mia sunglasses at Kirk and Kirk offer a sleek statement cat’s eye design. The Royal tone of blue featured has an attractive delicately opaque finish. www.kirkandkirk.com

The Otaru style in the Icons collection at Gigi Studios expresses a classic timeless design style in bio acetate. The frame comes in a choice of colours including this masculine blue variation, which has a crystal translucency. https://gigistudios.com

Bright turquoise and tranquil teal tones are also in vogue for the summer. The Ambos style by Retrosuperfuture is a good example, elegant, playful, and designed as a modern twist of 1950s attitude. The frame is available in this playful turquoise blue toned acetate with a contrasting burgundy lens – for a fashionable twist. www.retrosuperfuture.com

The curves of the delicate model Reeds at FACE A FACE are inspired by the aesthetic of reeds originating from a Japanese landscape. A fine, sharp line of constant width runs from the eye to the endpiece, giving this design its delicacy and rigorous crafting. Meanwhile the blue colour scheme is highlighted with a coral line around a section of the rim. www.faceaface-paris.com Watch this space for more details on trends and directions in eyewear. This feature was written by Clodagh Norton at Eyestylist.com. All rights reserved.

Two handmade designs are announced in the collaboration for 2024

Rigards has reunited with Ziggy Chen to create a dual release synergizing eyewear and high fashion. Defined by bold and assured silhouettes, the two co-branded frames were conceived as a response to a unique challenge: eyewear that will not only style well with hats, but equally will not be easily dislodged. The designers found inspiration, in particular, in the mountaineering style and oversized climbing shades of the 1980s.

The model RG1941ZC ‘Z-Goggle’ naturally resurrects the spirit of 1980s alpine goggles, and is described as having a directional yet easy edge. This titanium frame features ‘staircasing’ stepped curves, a signature architectural element that demonstrates evolutionary continuity to the preceding installment in this collaborative series. The stepped profiles fan out onto the side-shields, their small undulation further articulating the geometric presence and creating subtle shadow-play. The double-sided guilloché flourish on the temples enhances grip and lessens slipping from desired positions, the characteristic texture again circling back to the overarching imagery of nāgas and serpents. Above: Rigards x Ziggy Chen edition: RG1941ZC ‘Z-Goggle’ 

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership between RIGARDS and Ziggy Chen, a milestone the designers saw as a timely chance to revisit natural horn, the material that set the ball rolling for the creative collaboration. Reimagining in fuller proportions the calligraphic associations behind their earliest work, they designed an atypical pantos model RG1940ZC ‘Z-Horn’ , the simplicity of its exaggerated form a reference to broad, impassioned Eastern brushstrokes, but also smooth, bevel-edged inkstones. Titanium lens cages, an exclusive feature, are engraved with guilloché, with a scale-like pattern that represents a nod to the imminent Year of the Dragon.

RIGARDS x Ziggy Chen RG1940ZC and RG1941ZC are set to launch in-stores in Q3 of 2024, in 7 and 5 elegant colours, respectively. Each pair comes with a stitch-free origami case, made from a single piece of vegetable-tanned Santa Croce leather. Find out more at www.rigards.com – copyright applies. All rights reserved.

Eyestylist was privileged to explore the eyewear collections at the annual MIDO fair in Milan. The fair highlighted a wealth of new creativity and innovation in a busy, high-energy, enjoyable show experience – exclusive content by EYESTYLIST.COM

Designers are embracing new design techniques, highly developed technical competencies, state-of-the-art materials in cool combinations and an ever-inspiring artistic language in terms of key techniques such as bevelling or sculpting the frame, often mixing different materials in unique designs. Exciting concepts, contemporary handcrafted details and new colour palettes were on display at the Mido fair, inspired by many different imaginative sources and ideas, from beyond the eyewear segment itself.

Highlights from the independent designers and brands included new launches by RIGARDS, whose collection included a new bold and assured co-branded frame with Ziggy Chen – www.rigards.com; a new collection by Italia Independent, the first produced with MODO Group, under the direction of Lapo Elkann, founder of the brand; a brand-new 3D printed collection by Götti Switzerland called Bubbly in the Götti Dimension range;  an outstanding new collection from the Italian brand MOVITRA which pays special attention to performance and accomplished technical detail; new incredibly lightweight readers from Swiss start-up, read on; the official launch of Bayria’s Arts & Crafts Collection at the event, and exquisite material innovation at Nina Mûr from Spain who introduced their CLAY collection in Milan. Above: GIGI Studios’ model Elma in the stylish VANGUARD collection for Spring/Summer 2024 – the Spanish brand reported a very successful Mido event – www.gigistudios.com

Among several new product releases revealed in Milan, MOVITRA exhibited a brand-new edition of their iconic bestselling Error404, a design named after the Error Code that appears on websites. The iconic bi-colour Error404 sunglasses style has always been a model that represents the very essence and identity of the Milanese eyewear brand. The new frame, which has a round eyeshape, has been created in two new contemporary colours for 2024, Black, Crystal Brown with Bronze toned lenses or Black, Mirrored Crystal Blue with Blue lenses. Particular features of this all-acetate model are the scratched-effect of the front, which combines with acetate temples with MOVITRA’s patented bar behind. www.movitra.it

A new collaboration edition by Kaleos was introduced at the Mido fair. The eyewear brand has worked with HEY for this modular concept, a creative studio in Barcelona who are known for their use of colour and irreverent visual code. www.kaleoscollection.com 

The new Bubbly collection by Götti Switzerland consists of two sunglasses (Ilana and Play) and two optical models (Ivie  and Ivon). The lightweight 3D printed styles have striking aesthetics which explore fluidity and organic forms with surfaces that are tactile and soft. www.gotti.ch

The new line from Italia Independent introduced predominantly acetate sun and optical styles reinterpreted through details and, in some cases, treated with a metal-effect finish informed by the world of ’90s racing yachts.

The colour palette draws inspiration from the wardrobe of Lapo Elkann: the brightest shades such as Lapo Blue are flanked by fluorescent colours in transparent versions, as well as more traditional tones of grey, crystal and havana. https://italiaindependent.com

At Mido, we saw a significant trend towards experimenting with combinations of materials, colours, surfaces and transparency. The new Bayria collection had several examples, such as the model Utinum which features a crystal bridge and crystal as a lining to the natural green translucent angular front. https://bayriaeyewear.com

Eyestylist observed many trends at the Mido fair and this article is intended as a first view of some of the directions in 2024  : further developments will be gradually highlighted in the weeks ahead across our Eyestylist platform. The next MIDO will take place 8th to 10th February, 2025. www.mido.com