The Next Big Trend In Glasses

It seems that society has recently developed an obsession with glasses. Just over five years ago most young people perceived glasses to be nerdy and opted to wear contacts instead. There was also a big trend of laser-eye surgery among working adults. But the attitude towards eyewear has done a 180 with glasses now being coveted as a fashion item and increasingly more people wear them over contacts. The drastic change in public perception is very interesting, especially given how quickly it happened. This piece is intended to provide insight for the cause of the shift and predict where the next trend in eyewear will take us.

The current trend in eyewear features a frame that’s big, bold, and made from acetate plastic. Frames are generally black or tortoise shell in color and reminiscent of glasses popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s. They are very much classic in design yet bold enough to be considered a fashion accessory. This is in heavy contrast to the trend in the late 1990’s and 2000’s where discreet frames were more common instead of bolder, fashion-forward frames. I believe this current trend is largely due to changes in the social values of young Millennials.

Society has an interesting opinion of Millenials. Many people see them as the safe-space needing, participation trophy, entitled generation. Others see them as the optimistic, social caring, body-positivity generation. Regardless of your personal view of Millenials, they are the current young generation and are the ones finding and driving new global trends. Much like the young hippie generation had a driving effect on the fashion and trends of 1960’s, the Millenials are having the same effect on the fashion and trends of today. With this in mind, I think the resurgence of bold glasses can be attributed to the spirit of body-positivity and self-empowerment of the Millenials.

The current young generation is saying women should be confident and independent – they should love and celebrate their bodies and dress to empower themselves instead of dressing to impress a man. At the same time, the current young generation is saying it’s cool for men to care about fashion and grooming and demonstrate similar body-positivity. As a whole, this means men are actively participating in the world of fashion much more than the previous decade and women are feeling empowered to express themselves more than before. The trend of bold glasses is born out of this mentality. Growing up in an environment of such positive reinforcement means Millenials aren’t afraid to put themselves out there and experiment with bolder glasses than those popular in the 2000’s. We see a large segment of society embracing fashion as a form of self-expression and empowerment, and that widespread embracement is helping to drive the trends in eyewear.

Given this, it’s evident that society as a whole consumes fashion quicker than before and young people are constantly hungry for a newer form of self-expression. There’s no doubt in my mind that this hunger for a new, unique way of self-expression will drive fashion trends to come and go even quicker than their already rapid pace. It will also drive some experimentation with new materials like the niche market of wood glasses that has already popped up. With this experimentation in mind, I believe we will see a convergence on minimalist metal glasses, which will be the next big trend in eyewear.

Though metal frames were popular in the 1970’s and 1990’s, they have a fairly negative connotation in fashion. Looking at the pictures above it’s pretty clear that there were some frames with very questionable aesthetics back in the ’70’s and ’90’s and fashion-forward people today probably shutter at the thought of wearing them. Nonetheless I think there’s a real argument to make for the resurgence of minimalist metal glasses and I believe they will be the next big trend.

The first reason they have the potential to make a comeback is the fact that they are so overlooked and dismissed in fashion right now. As such, they will satisfy consumers’ needs for a new and unique form of self-expression. Today only the most hipster of hipsters would wear a pair of 1970’s wire-rim glasses non-ironically. That doesn’t mean metal frames in general are out of style, but rather old wire-rims are out of style. But as Apple has demonstrated with their popular new “rose gold” line of iPhones and MacBooks, precious metals are making a comeback in the design world and consumers are embracing them. Society is shifting away from the shiny plastic aesthetic of the early 2010’s and gravitating towards a more understated luxury aesthetic. Rich gold and silver tones fall right in line with this new aesthetic.

Our society is also increasingly more conscious of the environment. We have embraced hybrid and electric cars and many people believe global warming is the single greatest threat to our world. At the same time, there has been a strong embrace of minimalist design language by consumers. From Apple’s simple industrial design to Google’s flat graphic design, people are both familiar with minimalism and respect it as a design choice. This combination of environmental concern and embrace of minimalist design language is the perfect opportunity for metal frames to make a comeback. All a strong marketing team has to do is present the issues associated with recycling conventional acetate plastic frames and suggest that metal frames have a lower environmental impact. That being said, the slow adoption of the Prius has shown that most consumers will dismiss an ugly product even if it’s better for the environment so it’s not enough to just make frames out of metal. Designers need to create metal frames that are more in line with current aesthetic trends. So what must these fashionable metal frames look like?

The pictures above gives a glimpse into where I think the trend will take us. These are two different approaches to minimalist metal frames. The first is a very minimalist wire design made from a gold alloy. The shade of gold looks compelling, like the popular gold iPhone, and follows a design language that is minimal yet considered. Unlike some metal glasses from the past, these do not look cheap or flimsy and they are a shade of gold that most people find luxurious instead of tacky. The other, turquoise pair of glasses is quite bold while still being minimalist in design. It shows that metal frames can be just as much of a statement piece as plastic frames if designed correctly. The use of very geometric shapes, pops of color, and various different precious metals all allow for new ways to make a statement and, as such, people looking for new and unique ways of self-expression will gravitate towards these styles of frames. And, given that plastic frames are now the norm, I believe these bold metal frames will begin to look much more desirable to those searching for the next unique trend. This is especially true if they can be marketed as more environmentally friendly than conventional plastic frames.

It’s hard to say exactly how quickly this style of metal glasses will be adopted, but given the increasing pace of fashion cycles, I think they will be as popular as plastic glasses are today by the year 2020.