Despite some people in the UK experiencing 40 consecutive days of rain this year, sales of sunglasses have not been dampened.
Instead, the dark skies have ushered in a new era of eyewear: the non-sun sunglasses.
The style comprises shield-style frames with barely-there tinted lenses. They look a bit like those goggles the dental hygienist asks you to pop on to avoid flying tartar, or the safety glasses worn by a government minister on a visit to a construction site.
Created originally for long-distance runners and cyclists who want to protect their eyes from elements including the sun, sweat and flies, the high-performance eyewear is now being co-opted by everyone, including those who failed to finish that couch to 5k programme.
Selin Olmsted, an eyewear trend forecaster and design director, says there is a “huge uptick” for non-sun sunglasses “where you can still see the eye”. These types of glasses fall into “category one” eyewear, meaning they are designed to offer protection against harmful UV light specifically on overcast or cloudy days when many people think they do not need protection. Some versions feature photochromic lenses that change tint automatically depending on the level of light exposure. The trend also reflects how sunglasses have become a year-round accessory.
On the catwalk, brands including Celine featured giant rimless shades with charcoal- and honey-tinted lenses that looked similar to those you would find in the aisles of Decathlon. While the designer version costs £470, the French sporting giant’s prices start at £29.99. Marks & Spencer is also tapping into the trend. This week, it launched a £20 pair of “sport sunglasses” with a rust-coloured tint. On TikTok, gen Z have swapped their Charli xcx inspired blackout bug-eye shades for the Mamil go-to: wraparound cycling glasses. Elsewhere, the April issue of Runner’s World magazine features the pop star Harry Styles musing on his sub-three-hour marathon time as he poses in vintage short-shorts and a pair of Oakley’s rose-tinted Cybr Zero glasses.
Tapping into what Olmsted calls a wider “functional luxury” trend, she says the shield styles reflect how “different lifestyles are merging and blending into each other” – in this case, the worlds of sport and fashion. “Due to sociopolitical reasons, people are allocating more of their budget to their physical wellbeing. It helps them feel good in an unpredictable world. They are now investing in better-functioning gear such as eyewear that can optimise their performance but still looks good.”
Alex Ellinport, the global product director at Oakley, is not surprised to see the 50-year-old brand now being co-opted by non-athletes. “Seeing people wear Oakley simply because they appreciate the design feels like a natural extension of where those communities [fashion and sport] are heading and how those worlds are converging.”
Styles’s glasses consist of a rimless construction and weigh about 22g. Ellinport describes them as “next to nothing” glasses. Similar styles from specialist sportswear brands including District Vision and Kuro Athletics are also just as likely to be worn on the track as they are on the front row. The US brand Research Studio, which 3D-prints specialist glasses for endurance athletes, riffs on this with its tagline: “Also great for running.”
Alongside eye protection, another big part of the appeal of non-sun sunglasses is that they are the type of glasses you can leave on indoors without looking like the type of person who wears sunglasses indoors. There is also a mood-boosting benefit. On gloomy days they can “uplift someone’s psychology”, Olmsted says. “You pop them on in the morning and they still allow you to see everything clearly, but through a really lovely warm pink or earthy toned light. It just adds a nice start to the day.”
