Not-so-rose-tinted

For Her
The cat eye continues its reign as the style most popular with fashionistas. Considering that it first became popular in the 1960s after Audrey Hepburn was seen wearing a pair in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, it’s a long time for a trend to stick around. Designers are constantly updating the shape. For its Fall/Winter 2016-2017 collection, Fendi has added to its Lei range by combining two popular eyewear shapes – the cat eye and the aviator – to create a completely new, quirky style. Jimmy Choo, too, has gone feline with Lash, round wire-rimmed glasses with optional leather-lined cat eye frames that can be clipped to the top.

When it’s not the cat eye, designers are going for extremes in volume, whether it is minimalist frames, or chunky ones in bold finishes. Fendi’s Be You sunglasses sport thick, brightly coloured frames, while Jimmy Choo goes bold with the Gotha, perfectly round sunglasses accented with big glittery plexiglass eyebrows.

For Him

Understated style is the order of the day for the men. Glasses are lightweight and in conventional shapes and colours, as seen in Givenchy’s Icons collection. Featuring square lenses with soft, rounded corners in metal or acetate frames, the brightest colour of the season in this range is a dark, muted green. Boss Eyewear has gotten the memo too, and has followed suit with eyewear featuring dark coloured frames in matte finishes.

The only rebel is Givenchy’s unusually-shaped Bridges from the Rave collection. Inspired by mountaineering glasses, this model comes with leather spoilers that can be slipped onto the temples, adding a pop of bold red and bright white, or, for the less daring, brown and black, to the sides of the lenses.