Sunglasses Trends for 2024
Our favorite season, summer, is running out. What 2023 gave us, what to expect from 2024? We want to have a look for the upcoming autumn trends and sharing our point of view too.
What are the trends for the 2023 Autumn season?
WRAPAROUND SUNGLASSES
The wraparound sunglasses will lead the market for a while yet. They’re big and excessive, and their design aims for the future. Brands like Balenciaga or Gucci showed their wraparound options in the latest collections. Others, like Kopajos or Ray-ban, followed this 90’s trend.
The sporty sunglasses are similar to the wraparound but definitely more straightforward. Paris 2024 Olympic Games are approaching: it does not seem accidental that these sunglasses were the main accessories of influential catwalks, like Dior or Balenciaga. Even sports brands like Nike or Patou delivered their designs on the market.
SQUARED SUNGLASSES
Classic is always on the edge. In 2024, we will find in different collections a lot of squared-rectangular shapes. As of ten years ago, thick acetate will be again very appreciated. It’s your moment to try something new, like the double-layer from Loewe.
Have you noticed how the Ibiza design focuses on the depth effect? Thanks to its shape, it seems to wear two sunglasses in one.
CAT-EYE SUNGLASSES
Cat-eye designs will come with very sharp lines. It’s not a revolution: brands like Kopajos made these sunglasses years ago. The Caterpillar modello in the picture down below is one of their classics. Instead of a whole, heavy acetate frame, Caterpillar has titanium parts, completing the arms and reducing its weight.See the available options here: www.kopajos.com/product/Caterpillar
For a thick sunglasses concept, we suggest Bottega Veneta to compare different sunglasses. https://www.bottegaveneta.com/it-it/occhiali-da-sole-cat-eye-a-punta-in-acetato-angle-havana-brown-660165V23302819.html
The ergonomic arms help a fit that would be otherwise compromised by weight.
OVERSIZED SUNGLASSES
In 2024, the inspirations from the 70’s will still be with us. Moreover, the results of 2023 will be recovered. The homage several brands are preparing for an unforgettable decade will not end soon.
The shape is not the relevant part of the whole frame; big lenses matter the most. Our inner diva will thank us!
Chloé provides butterfly-squared acetate sunglasses with a low bridge, enhancing the front of the shape. https://www.chloe.com/sa/sunglasses_cod46960276mi.html
Warby Parker instead tributes the 70s with a nostalgic revival, as the dimensions of Esperanza are those of a medium-sized caliber. These sunglasses are hexagonal, but the angles are smooth. The rim-eye is enriched with shiny gold pieces. Temples are too basic, but the detail that impoverishes these sunglasses is the plastic nose-pad. Give them a look here: https://www.warbyparker.com/eyeglasses/esperanza/praline-with-polished-gold
2024 SUNGLASSES COLORS
Barbie the movie had an impact on the fashion industry, and the result will come in the upcoming year. Expect an invasion of pink, magenta, other cool pastel tints, like blue and mint green. Colored lenses will be the most original part to have. Show them off fearless! Black will tent to disappear. 2024 will be a vivid colors year.
Specifically, more psychedelic colors dictate the line for sunglasses brands and those that have added sunglasses within their lines.
GENERAL EYEWEAR TRENDS
Which are the 2024 season keywords?
FUNCTIONALITY – The prevalence of geometric shapes in the marketplace will push toward more rationalism in the use of eyewear. We will not see improvised creations for a while, perfect for impulse purchases. However, there will be no lack of originality through details, which will not be what we are used to seeing.
LIMITED EDITIONS – To renew consumer interest, some brands will aim to create exclusivity hype, with limited editions in collaboration with other companies, not necessarily part of the eyewear world.
Think of past ones between Virgil Abloh’s Off-White with Louis Vuitton, Fendi’s with Versace, or even Nike’s with Apple. For the eyewear world, this seems like a safe enough, maybe even too safe, way to not take too many risks in a world that changes quickly.
SUSTAINABILITY – It cannot be talked about enough, but this is, must be, the most relevant topic for eyewear companies. The need for sustainable frames, made from materials that do not further impact an already stressed environment, is viewed by the market with interest.
It will be good to distinguish between green fashion and greenwashing. The life cycle of products is crucial: more is needed to pass off something as recycled and sell it in a niche at a high price. We need concrete actions on the part of the consumer himself, who must choose more artisanal and less industrial.
Indeed, even at this juncture, many manufacturers are treading a field of so-called scavenged beauty, which aims to reuse discarded objects and materials to create renewed value. In this way, demand for the “new” and its impact on the planet are reduced.
Brands like Kopajos fight back against the voracious consumption of one-season sunglasses. Thanks to their warranty program, the customer can request the replacement of the lenses twice during the sunglasses’ lifetime. These actions can help in reducing consumerism.
TEXTURE – Sunglasses’ surface changes. Touch begins to play a significant role. It’s not just a matter of smooth or rough surfaces. We can now appreciate more details coming with our sunglasses, like precious stones, metal parts, and more. The craftmanship becomes a winning interpretation key of the current trends.For one of the latest collections, for example, Chanel puts effort into adding some pearls as details. They made so precious both the butterfly and oversized spectacles’ borders so. Celine did the same; the brand has decorated one of its cat eyes with spheres on both the front and the arms. Another must-have is Swarovski’s fully adorned octagonal sunglasses.
EYEWEAR 2024 – KEEP AN EYE ON THESE BRANDS
We say goodbye with our own brand selection. We believe these will be on the top of the sunglasses independent side market. In the last decades, the most original ideas and trends came from independent brands.
We learned that changes in society, along with increased attention to the environment and technological innovations, plus the study of the different body and facial shapes (https://kopajos.com/2023/03/14/piccola-guida-per-capire-di-che-forma-e-il-tuo-viso/) are influencing the born of new trends as well.
Nowadays, dressing up, explicitly wearing sunglasses, is not just a matter of taste. The consumer is more responsible: choosing a product also means accepting the values of the company that has created it.
Cutler and Gross is interested because they will continue delivering oversized sunglasses, as they did in 2023. Beyond the dimension, thickness will be a thread, so to reinforce this idea.
On the contrary, Masunaga will still manufacture its titanium sunglasses inspired by Japanese soberness. The brand wants to speak to its local public, but Japanese minimalism lovers worldwide will catch the message.
Kopajos continues to surprise everybody, season after season. It’s incredible how a family business from Mykonos is developing its message through vibrant colors and easy-to-wear sunglasses. The 2023 experimental collection, with the new beta titanium sunglasses, has succeeded and promises high hopes for the following year. Apart from the reinterpretation of some of their classics, we expect something new!
Barton Perreira proposed a limited “Rimless Sun Collection” with open frames. The spectacles hang together, just the metal bridge and the arms. This independent brand takes a very original path. Some competitors already have these frames, but not the best of luck. Could this be a turnaround for the future trends?
