Sunglasses, this season

The 70s look is back in vogue.

With sunglasses too. And, especially, coloured rim shades. Nobody wears it better than Bollywood. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Kangna Ranaut hold their heads high off the sets while Mumbai’s swish set of society ladies like Avanti Birla, Anju Taraporewala, Ramona Narang take the trend to the racecourse and brunches with equal elan.

Eyewear brands are placing their bet this season on oversized sunglasses which come with a signature rim. Coloured rims, some encrusted with Swarowski crystals, some with pointy edges, shades with butterfly or cupid motif on the arms, are instant hits.

Salil Chaturvedi of Provogue eyewear says, “It’s exciting to see people experimenting with sunglasses. No one’s playing safe by going the regular cliched way. Sunglasses are a reflection of one’s attitude and so the shape, size and colour are completely out-of-the-box, yet very wearable.” Agreed, for style icon Saif Ali Khan, whose sunglasses are often made-to-order, now sports his pair with a coloured thin red rim.

Giving a thumb-ups to Aishwarya’s white rimmed bumblebee shades, Yogesh Shah of Mojo eyewear emphasises, “White rims are really in. In fact, coloured rims like red and amber are fast catching up. The best news is that fashionable eyewear is no longer too expensive. Even collegians can flaunt the new-age look quite comfortably.”

Actress Soha Ali Khan, who is a big fan of laminates, is gung-ho about yellow coloured lenses in oversized frames. In fact, laminates is another trend which has set in this season. Thanks to the Dev D look of actor Abhay Deol, laminates have gone down well with men too. “Tommy Hilfiger has a limited edition of teardrop shaped laminates which capture the summer feel fairly well,” says Soha.

Deepak Agarwal of Kazo eyewear, celebrating the return of the 70s look, says, “Go the Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore and Parveen Babi way by grabbing your pair of white rimmed sunglasses. It’s the coolest way to beat the glare.”