Sunglasses remained one of the dominating accessories on the runways for fall. The wraparound, updated '90s raver and shield styles emerged as the leading shapes, infusing the collections with an endless cool factor and letting everyone have fun in the sun.
The demand for sunglasses may not nearly be as high in fall as it is in spring due to the lack of daylight hours, but that didn’t stop designers from going big (literally) into the category for their most recent runway outings.
Shields and wraparound styles were most common, underscoring the utilitarian attitude in the clothes with which they were frequently paired.
From New York to Paris, merchants repeatedly tossed around the concept of uniform dressing, pegging office-ready attire in a rainbow of neutrals as their key investments. In eyewear, however, the concept was less about business and more about pleasure, extending to the uniforms of cyclists and skiers as well as ravers who require high-coverage frames to offer protection from wind, debris and strobe lights while moving at fast speeds.
At Off-White, Virgil Abloh’s successor Ib Kamara accessorized his second collection for the brand, which WWD’s Miles Socha labeled as falling somewhere between a futuristic Alaïa and a luxury streetwear version of “District 9,” with sunglasses that featured circular lenses — two in the front and two on the sides — in addition to blacked-out exaggerated cat-eye styles.
Similar designs were seen at Nina Ricci and LaQuan Smith among others, and could prove popular in line with current plastic surgery trends like buccal fat removal, as these frames tend to make the nose appear slimmer and have lifting effect on the cheekbones.
Elsewhere, Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière contrasted his version of the typical Parisian girl’s wardrobe by adding sci-fi looking LED glasses that WWD’s Booth Moore noted were a potential nod to the city of light itself.
Also toying with the idea of light, albeit in a more traditional fashion, were Ferrari, Undercover and Dion Lee, using blue and yellow tints, which are known to reduce glare and increase depth and distance perception.
https://wwd.com/accessories-news/accessory-trends/sheild-wraparound-sunglasses-fall-2023-trend-fashion-1235583807/