What’s big and orange and experiencing a surprise surge in popularity? No, not Donald Trump but this season’s tinted It sunglasses: A Single Man frame shades with Aperol Spritz coloured lenses.
It might sound a daunting prospect, but at last week’s Venice Biennale pre-opening — which sees the international art set collide with the culturally on-pulse billionaires — the style was a hot favourite, adopted by hot young Italians in their three piece white suits and ties, and artists, led by London’s own lobster aficionado Philip Colbert, alike.
It was the same story in Milan during the Design Week, which saw cool girls, including influencer Niki Wu Jie, wear them to Miu Miu soirees and even Rihanna gave them her seal of approval, wearing a pair to her London Fenty party, in Wapping no less, last week.
The trend has been bubbling as the block coloured accessory (the best of which come acetate framed) are rapidly proving themselves a go-to style to elevate a spring/ summer outfit.
Last month, when couple of the moment Tom Holland and Zendaya took their seats to watch the men’s tennis finals of the BNP Paribas Open in California, it was not only the Dune actress holding court on the fashion front — Holland successfully amped up his credentials with a pair of marmalade tinged glasses, paired with the “espresso” knit summer shirt from London brand Percival.
And they’re versatile, as Hollywood’s leading men demonstrated as they rocked them on the Oscars red carpet in March. Matthew McConaughey wore Garrett Leight’s Torrey Sun style (€325, garrettleight.eu) while The Holdovers’ breakout star Dominic Sessa opted for Tom Ford’s Turner aviators (£345, luisaviaroma.com). London fashion designer Harris Reed, famous for his gender-fluid designs, wore a matching Ford pair to Chioma Nnadi’s British Vogue launch party a few days later, while Lewis Hamilton opted for a string of different, unset-tinted specs during the F1 Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia last month. All this is to say, a great breadth of characters can pull these off; no one should be intimidated.
For those interested in what happened on the catwalks, ochre opticals were a hit — they cropped up at the spring/summer 2024 collections of Burberry, Roberto Cavalli and Tom Ford. It came as no surprise at the latter, which has been designed by Peter Hawkings since Ford stepped down last year. What’s his trademark look? You guessed it — a sharp suit and a tangerine-tinted shade. We’ll take two, with ice.
The top tinted shades to shop now:
Tom Ford, Fausto square-frame acetate sunglasses, £290, selfridges.com
TBD Eyewear, Donegal sunglasses, £150, tbdeyewear.com
Quay, On the fly, £56, quayaustralia.co.uk
Ray Ban, State side reloaded, £132, ray-ban.com
