Sunglasses SS17 Trend Report

Whether it’s actually sunny or not, summer or winter – there will always be someone looking for a new pair of shades, as shield from bright rays, style-upgrade or simply an accessory. Anna Langer put together an overview of what’s popping for SS17 pre-orders.

Dragon

In the digital age where networking is king and everything has been on trend at least once or twice, it’s only getting harder to come up with something completely unique and new. Hence combinations are all the rage.

TRENDS
“Colour and frame combos will continue to be a trend” say VonZipper who address this trend with their Empire, “that will mix metal and acetate, under a round frame design, delivering a true statement of freedom and irreverence.” Carve continue to “combine metal with tortoise and matte finishes,” Brunotti add steel arms to their polycarbonate frame, Proof add metal accents, Urban Beach combine “heavy black and tortoise shell with wire frames for an interesting balance between slimline and chunky big frames,” and Quiksilver also mix metal and acetate. New German manufacturers Take A Shot combine wood with synthetic materials to “benefit from the best of two worlds: touch and feel of wood and flexibility in colours, patterns and shapes of synthetics,” staying clear of endangered wood such as tropical species and instead use local walnut, cherry and oak as well as bamboo. Spy have “put a lot of focus towards integrating materials into the design, using a dual-injection process. With this we are developing lightweight, functional sunglasses with some very cool colour combinations.”

When it comes to shapes, retro styles are all the rage, with aviator models making a huge comeback in collections by Brunotti, Urban Beach, Quiksilver, Spy and Dirty Dog, who combine the pilot frame shape with the next retro-inspired trend, rimless, on their classic Vango aviator. “Semi-rimless design offers an increased field of view and lightweight frame,” argue Smith and VonZipper even do a whole “new frameless Alt Collection,” with “high quality nylon grilamid temples directly attached to the lenses”, while Proof also find “thin minimalist silhouettes are strong right now.”

At Electric, it’s been business as usual since the company bought itself out from previous owner Kering, as they go about making refined shapes for the discerning user: “We’ve made adaptations to the wayfarer, some round frames, a combination of metal and acetate and some forward active frames that blend performance and style, playing to our heritage in the action sports market,” Head Eyewear Designer Josh Hartley says.

For women the “high shaped cat eye frame,” is strong for Roxy, and Urban Beach agree: “We feel our women’s cats eye frames are the start of something big, and we have several options including 50s favourites in tortoise shell, or colourful hybrids of vintage vixen meets modern beach cool.” For unisex models, round frames are becoming more popular again, with black and mirror lenses from Cheapo, contrasting colourways from Dirty Dog, and metal accents from Nectar, Melon, Take A Shot, Urban Beach, Quiksilver and also Roxy, who pair this look with the only really new trend and thus the exception to the rule: flat lenses.

Still a “high fashion” only trend last year, we’re now starting to see these “flat production lenses” everywhere. At Nike, “all of our new frames in the Nike SB collection have a 4-base construction, which gives them a classic flat fashion look.” Epokhe introduce a few Zero base lenses and “utilise more 2 base throughout the range,” and also newbies Take A Shot play around with “soft mirrored (flat) lenses.”

Other micro trends include “rubber coated materials,” (Bliz) and “rubberised frames,” (Urban Beach) as well as “double bridges,” which Brunotti and VonZipper show. Floatable sunglasses are far from being new, but now show some new offerings from Brunotti and Quiksilver, who feature polarized lenses. Dragon update their H20 Floatable Technology with a full variety of styles across the range, including injected colourways instead of just black frames.

Colour itself is trending as well, especially multi-coloured frames like Dirty Dog and Brunotti mention, but also two-toned frames (Melon) and lenses (Nectar). Epokhe, Spektrum and Oakley on the other hand continue to count on timeless, sporty elegance and “style merged with performance” (Oakley).

LENS TECHNOLOGY
The colour trends also include coloured lenses, like “more purple/pink lenses” (Nectar), orange and purple and teal, especially on classic shapes such as wayfarers and cats-eyes sunnies from Urban Beach, purple, rose-gold and blue mirrored lenses from Take A Shot.

Overall, mirrored lenses seem to take a step back though, giving way to polarized lenses. What used to be a pricey, high-end feature mainly reserved to the needs of surfers (and fishermen) is these days almost becoming a standard for sunglasses with an action sport background. Since they are “lenses which give a better contrast and colour perception, these are highly recommended for all sports activities,” says JP Bonnemason, Global Eyewear Product Manager for Quiksilver & Roxy, who feature them in a lot of their new models: “Roxy is an outdoor, surfing brand and consumers are educated on the benefits of polarized lenses – we have included more polarized shades.” For the Dragon H20 Floatable Collection, polarized lenses are already standard and Carve have even designed new shades “to enhance the new finishes”. Brunotti have polarized lenses as well, as do Urban Beach, Proof, and Spektrum. Nectar feature a 1.1 mm polarized lens and Spy a new Trident™ polarization. Shred continue their Nodistortion™ with NXT™ lenses, which are “a urethane-based material with excellent optical properties,” that makes them super impact-resistant, super light and crystal clear, explains Brand Manager, AJ Arvin. Sinner also report “strong reactions” to their polarized Sintec lensed styles.

The other hot topic in lens tech is photochromic. “Oakley Prizm dramatically enhances detail to improve performance and provides ultra-precise colour tuning, designed for specific environments,” and was among the first offerings, which has become a lot more varied for 2017. Melon integrate their Amplify Lens™ technology into their Design-Your-Own Collection, “which ensure that only the right colours of light reach your eyes, creating an optical experience of unparalleled clarity and vibrancy.” Quiksilver work with photochromic lenses from light categories 2 to 3, “depending on the intensity of the lights. These technical lenses are all polarized, which make them much more comfortable to wear.”

Smith’s ChromaPop lens technology also “enhances clarity and natural colour to let you effortlessly see more detail, amplifying natural colours to create a more vibrant view with greater depth perception and clarity,” and is now introduced to their Performance eyewear collection, which now includes two ChromaPop performance lens tints: “The installed lens is designed for brighter conditions while the replacement lens is ideal for mixed and low light conditions. Both tints are new to the Smith collection and ChromaPop lens offering,” says Global PR Manager, Benny Cruickshank.

VonZipper pioneered their exclusive, patented Wild Life Lenses last year that “create an all new visual experience by selectively absorbing light in the area were the eye is more sensitive, creating an energy boost as well a higher comfort in terms of comfort and clarity,” and are now adding them to most of their main models. Gloryfy introduce their I-Flex® Energizer lens for “perfect contrast, even in the worst light conditions, restoring energy to the body,” and add new tints to their photocromatic, unbreakable lenses. Dirty Dog also feature a new photochromic lens in 2017 that adapts to different brightness conditions.

Bliz add a new blue tint to their ULS lens that “intensifies as the photochromatic feature activates.” For Spy, blue light technology is also a key ingredient in everything they do; their Happy Lens Technology “is designed to maximize the transmission of the sun’s long-wave blue light, while still blocking harmful short-wave blue light and UV rays. Research indicates that your eyes’ exposure to long-wave blue light, while out in the sun brings about positive physiological changes, like increased mood and alertness. Our Happy Lens also offers premium colour and contrast enhancement, giving you better clarity of vision while also blocking glare.”

Carve on the other hand feature a “slightly heavier lens in certain instances to enhances the feel of our new matte finishes,” and Nike work with a “low base curve lens that gives the frame a classic look,” and feature “mainly tinted lenses without flash or mirror coating.” While Electric continue their use of Melanin, which can be seen in their Amber lens (with hints of rose) as well as another number which combats blue light for computer, indoor and night driving.

COLOURS & PATTERNS
We’ve already mentioned the two-toned colour trend that offers a myriad of colours and combinations. Brunotti show Cobalt Blue, Aquamarine and Turquoise, Melon have Matte Orca and Rootbeer, Urban Beach sport a “flash of red, or pop colours of blue, green and teal,” to add “modern touches to classic shapes such as wayfarers and cats-eyes sunnies.” Smith offer a “Crystal Split with Red Sol-x lens,” colourway as well as Crystal Ultraviolet, Blush and Flecked Mulberry Tortoise for women. Spy add pop colour details to more neutral bases and use different materials to “accent different parts of the sunglass with an injection of colour that highlights the technical aspect of the frame.”

Dirty Dog feature “contrasting colourways again this year with the introduction of multi-coloured frames,” Melon have “two-toned acetate frames,” and VonZipper is playing the combo game as well, continuing to “play either with material combos, like mixing acetate/polycarbonate with metal (New Empire), either with colour combos, where they have two different colours on the same frame (Levee or Lula) sometimes played within the same colour through translucent effects.” Cheapo have a transparent frame as well, as do Brunotti, who pair it with Turquoise.

 Carve sees “finish being as important as colour going forward,” combining “solid colour and matte finishes in Black/Grey Tortoise, traditional Tort, Gunmetal and Gold.” Melon sport Matte Rootbeer, Terrapin and Orca, Quiksilver features Matte Brown/Green Tortoise, Bliz have “dampened earthy colours,” Cheapo invented their own Concrete Grey for their skateboarding models, gloryfy work with “earth tones and subtle colours on the frames,” Proof feature deep Khaki Browns, Olive Greens and Tride and Sinner take inspiration from the natural colours of their raw material such as Bamboo, combining them “with soft pastel tones and contrasting colours to express the products.” Take A Shot work with “a natural colour pallet including brown, black and variations of those colours,” too, including more matte frames and Proof even say that “matte subdued colours have been a staple for us for a while now.” Shred also show a lot of tonal colours throughout their collection “with wood and metal temple options.”

Tortoise is becoming a staple too, with lots of coloured variations next to more traditional versions from Carve, Urban Beach, Dragon, Epokhe, Quiksilver, Roxy, Smith, Spektrum, VonZipper, as well as a white number from Nectar. Of course black is everywhere and in all collections as well, as matte or satin finish, and paired with white (Brunotti).

Other frame-highlights include Dragon’s cooperation with Clark Little on a signature Vantage, “with his photography featured on the inside temple along with the protective bag.” Melon features limited edition prints, while Quiksilver and Roxy apply artworks from the men’s boardshorts or apparel collections, as well as the women’s Pop Surf and Pop Snow collection to their sunglasses: “Tie dye is one of our most popular types of artwork/effect for Summer 17 & water colour texture made by water decal printing.”

PRESCRIPTION
Prescription eyewear from brands rooted in boardsports has slowly but surely picked up pace over the years, with a number of brands offering solid ranges for the visually impaired. Owned by Marchon, Dragon has a “deep understanding of the category from both a frame design and lens prescription perspective,” and reports “strong growth in our Destiny Collection that utilizes a mixture of subtle logo applications in both injected and acetate material.” Smith also offers a complete prescription frame/eyewear collection including “34 unique and dedicated prescription models.” On top of that, fifty per cent of their current Sun collection is prescription compatible “including innovative solutions within our performance models.”

Gloryfy started their optical collection in Spring 2016, using their NBFX material, which has a memory effect and lets frame and lenses always return to their original shape. “Wearing comfort is incredible thanks to the gloryfy Flex Fit System – the arms can be quickly adjusted without any heating up so that the customer can adjust their glasses themselves, as required.”

When it comes to trends in the prescription sector, Proof find that “thin frames do really well. With the introduction of our Recycled Aluminium collection we have seen people really gravitate to the simple, minimal shapes. Rounds and Oval shapes have seen a big uptake in sales.” Roxy agree that “thin round acetate is still on trend,” as well as mixing different materials like acetate and metal, as they do in the Louise. Nike SB do “smaller, slimed down versions of the sunglass shapes combined with classical shapes,” and Epokhe also focus on “fine, classic and comfortable”, while VonZipper have “high statement square models, mixing acetate with metal on round frames.” Spy also focuses on mixed materials: “Plastics have been leading the trend, but that is slowly shifting. We definitely have our all-acetate frames, but we are also the combination of metal frames with acetate temples, and vice versa,” similar to Quiksilver, who mix “acetate with metal and injected plastic with rubber or metal with grilamid.”

Electric are about to make a bigger push in RX, where we can expect similar stylish yet more sophisticated, but Josh is coy: “I can’t divulge too many secrets but know they will feature the same health benefits as our melanin infused sunglass lenses.”

With so many options on display, there is once again something for everyone on the shelves next year – as an accessory, style update or simply to help one’s vision.