FASHION

Chanel’s sunglasses for Spring 2020 stole the light

Reinventing jeweled eyewear

Helena Saadeh

4-December-2019

Chanel’s sunglasses for Spring 2020 stole the light

Adorn the face with a new radiance. Draw attention to the elegance of a luxury signature. Play with an accessory to personalize a silhouette. Through these three precepts, the CHANEL Spring 2020 eyewear collection continues the story of jeweled glasses by offering frames that are illuminated by a multitude of strass.

Embedded in the acetate, the strass revisits the diamond quilting of CHANEL. It thus adorns the front and the temples of a butterfly and a rectangular frame that are both urban and sophisticated. In a second version, only the temples have been inlaid with the quilted motif. Each time, 280 to 530 crystals, depending on the design, are set by hand, one by one, using a technique similar to goldsmithery. This virtuosic setting method imbues the black, navy blue and dark green acetate of the frames with a subtle brilliance.

A recurring theme throughout the collection, the strass illuminates the CHANEL signature. On the very feminine square frames in black, navy blue, dark green and tortoiseshell acetate, the name CHANEL appears along one temple like a jeweled hair-slide. On the other temple, double C is also inlaid.

Two pairs of round and pilot shaped sunglasses play the masculine-feminine card with their XL format and their strass-covered temples. The pilot frame also comes as an optical version.

Finally, an oval frame in gold metal or matte black encircles grey or mirrored lenses with shifting reflections. The strass responds to the colors of the frames and follows the lines of the eyebrows.

Two optical designs, rectangular and square, complete the story.