Winter trends 2023/24: a confident, eclectic eyewear season
- By Clodagh Norton
- October 31, 2023
The season has begun with statement-making glasses and sunglasses, a confident palette of colours, with warmer tones for colder climates, and an interesting array of materials, where three-dimensionality and sculptural bevelling is a key look. Classical frame styles with a quiet elegance and finely crafted luxurious finish in tones that are fresh but in line with a traditional palette remain key…
BIGGER STILL!
The oversized look remains a key focus for sunglasses and optical frames / the proportions of these styles are bold, confident and sometimes eccentric / the 1960s and 1970s are a particular influence for shapes and colour effects such as transparency and gradient colour.
For the current season and on into 2024, super large frames are a firm fixture in most fashion-oriented collections – both optical and sunglasses. The 1960s and 1970s vintage-inspired shapes, from large thick rimmed oval and square silhouettes to futuristic mask-like designs, all get a look in. Different looks based on the classic aviator include very large structures with narrow wire rims – a particularly edgy look in the women’s collection, as well as very luxurious and ornate aviator designs that balance stunning details and the finest Italian and Japanese sourced metal and acetate materials. The sheer volume of these styles proposed for men and women this season, point to a continuing desire for self-expression, individual styling, and statement-making accessories that stand out in a crowd.
DETAIL DRIVEN
Details for aesthetic purposes are colourful and bright, adding pattern, 3 dimensional effects, contrasts and special eye-catching finishes.
The execution of detailing for creative purposes in eyewear varies from collection to collection, but an overall trend towards a very meticulous approach to the smallest parts of the frame is in evident this season across the board. Examples include a playful approach to temples and visible temple cores – some of which are embellished with minute patterns; an interesting application of materials including fabrics incorporated into the acetate sheets to create new looks with texture and pattern; and complex constructions combining layers or sections of different materials to create unique colour combinations, inspiring effects of polychromy and dynamic colour blocking designs in the frames.
Jewellery details, silver hardware, and stone settings remain a key feature in the luxury collections, with intriguing decorative effects achieved in many creative and innovative ways, at times with the expertise of artisans who work in the jewellery field.
ENDURING CLASSICS
The classical shapes including round, square, aviator and panto designs are well represented this season / with this direction comes a classical colour palette featuring tortoise, Havana and elegant black and brown hues.
For men and women, classical eyewear designs with refined lines, constructed from the finest eyewear materials, cater to those who require an everyday go-to frame with style and finesse. Japanese and the finest Italian production techniques are underlined more than ever, as customers looks for special qualities that give a design a qualitative and timeless elegance and design identity.
From round intellectual shapes in titanium or acetate to the very classy panto and aviator designs, traditional colours are also well represented in this direction, with fine tortoise, Havana and natural black tones (shiny or matt) available alongside the modern classics such as grey and natural amber, natural green and navy blue.
BOLD, ARTSY SHAPES
Acetate frames that look as if they have been sculpted by hand / geometric and angular forms, with interesting thicknesses and 3D effects / hybrid shapes which combine two in one.
Sculptured effects and a consistent use of bevelling for acetate designs has brought an artistic aesthetic to the eyewear collections in the last years. This look has infiltrated all lines to the point where designers have become accomplished at achieving beautiful angles and surfaces that have this 3-dimensional quality and individual creative artisan finish – in all materials and material combinations. The shapes with several sides – octagons and hexagons in particular – have remained in the collections and some fresh hybrid designs continue to do well, with round and angular lines combined for fronts.
A WINTER COLOUR STORY
The Winter collections are firmly rooted in the traditional palette associated with the colder season / this colour story has some particular highlights, including elegant olive tones, glowing tones of red and orange alongside cool combinations and patterns that surprise and delight!
Warm tones to brighten the skin, and wintery shades of brown, tortoise and natural stone, olive and moss green ensure a wide variety of colourful alternatives that feel flattering and easy to wear. Notable tones of the season in this story are the growing presence of subtle green hues and interesting fusions of colours which are unexpected, where blue is matched with green, or perhaps red matched with orange.
EDITOR’S PICK: NEW COLLECTION LAUNCH AT SILMO 2023 CONCAVE CONVEX – CLETO MUNARI EYEWEAR
The 93-year-old Italian artist/designer Cleto Munari showed his first ever eyewear collection in person at the SILMO Paris fair. The line is full of colour and focuses on bold, multi-layered shapes in acetate. Created by artisans from Vicenza who are used to working with tiny details in their work as goldsmiths, the frames offer a striking and playful character, with a juxtaposition of exciting colours in multilayers of custom-made Mazzucchelli acetate.
Mentored by Carlo Scarpa through part of his career, Munari is a highly regarded designer around the world and has a wealth of experience in the design field and through collaboration; his work is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA, New York.
