This month, Jamie Edney – who runs designer eyewear boutique Edney & Edney with his optometrist wife Ayshah on Monson Road – looks at the current crop of trends for über stylish sunglasses…
Despite a ‘white Easter’ being forecast, the short wintry days are slowly getting longer, and warmer and before you know it summer will soon be upon us – I promise!
As we look forward to those long, hot days it’s a good time to get thinking about sunglasses. We all know about the importance of UV protection for our eyes, but realistically we want our shades for an even more important reason – to look fantastic!
Spring/summer ‘23 is shaping up to be quite a season for eyewear, but I’m getting particularly excited for the sunglasses element. So this month, I’m going to talk about the collections that will be setting the trends for the summer.
I predict that the trends of this season are going to be an exaggerated renaissance of eyewear of the 80s and 90s. Extreme sizing seems to be accelerating as a trend, that is the undersized frames are getting smaller with thinner rims, and oversized are getting bigger with chunkier acetates.
Collections such as Dita are doubling down on large aviator styles, with vibrant tints taking centre stage. Gone are the days of hiding the eyes with a mirrored lens – pastel tones which reveal the eyes of the wearer are becoming more popular. Firm Edney & Edney favourite Jacques Marie Mage are introducing an explosion of colour into their range. Pastel tones, which seem to be the palette of the moment across many design industries are going to be dominating acetate frames this year, something I am very much in support of. Our popular JMM collection is going to embrace this trend.
As always, avant-garde Belgian collection Theo is opposing the trends set by celebrities by producing completely unique, intricate, asymmetrical designs inspired by pop art. Our small collection of four limited edition frames has been influenced by four iconic artists of the pop art era and was ordered by Mrs Edney and myself on a buying trip to Paris. I am delighted to bring a small piece of Belgian high fashion to Tunbridge Wells, and I can’t wait to introduce these four amazing works of art.
As with spectacles, finding one pair of glasses to complete every style can be a tall order – your statement ‘going out’ pair may not fit your professional look – and the same goes for sunnies. My advice would be to start the sunglasses wardrobe with a classic shape. An easy to wear aviator or Wayfairer-esque shape is a suave crowd pleaser. But going outside the comfort zone with a bold colour both in frame and lens will provide the wearer with a contrasting look, excellent for holidays or even just the pub garden!
Whether or not you wear prescription glasses, sunglasses have never provided a better opportunity to complete a look for the summer. While all of our collections feature beautiful sunglasses, we are always delighted to convert an optical frame into a completely unique pair of sunglasses with a bespoke Nikon lens tint to your specification. Nikon’s impressive range of vibrant graduated polarised tints are like nothing else available on the sunglasses market, giving you access to a completely uniquely pair of sunnies with unparalleled visual performance. Our versatile collections from across the globe represent the forefront of eyewear fashion, and we would be delighted to recommend an incredible pair of sunglasses to you. As always, please pop in to the practice on Monson Road. We’re open Monday to Saturday, 9:30-17:00.
