From hiding the eyes, sunglasses are now
To become something that shapes the face
The reason to wear sunglasses can no longer be explained fully in the fashion context as simply “because it’s glaring.”
When you look at eyewear for 2025–26, you see two trends drawing attention at the same time: tiny wire-framed glasses and massive shield frames that cover up to the brows and nose. One leaves the eye area exposed, while the other conceals most of the face. Their directions are opposites, but what they share is that sunglasses have become an item that determines how your face is seen—not just a way to protect yourself from the sun. Vogue Singapore’s 2025 eyewear feature and Vogue’s 2026 oversized sunglasses feature both reflect these two directions.
Today’s sunglasses are no longer about hiding your eyes—they’re about deciding how much information to leave on your face.
The threshold to modernity is,
Aviation eyewear and mass distribution
One could even begin the history of sunglasses with ancient colored glass and Arctic snow goggles. However, if you want to trace the thread leading to today’s fashion, you should look from the 1920s–30s onward.
According to Foster Grant’s official chronology, in 1929, Sam Foster sold sunglasses at the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the U.S. Foster Grant Official Chronology
It was also the period when sunglasses moved from being worn only for specific professions or medical purposes to becoming products that people could choose to wear for themselves while spending time by the seaside.
After that, Ray-Ban’s official history notes that in 1937, “Aviator Classic” was introduced. The early crystal lenses were developed for American pilots to reduce glare. Ray-Ban Official History
That said, the reason aviators still remain is not only performance. Large teardrop-shaped lenses, metal bridges, and contours that follow the cheeks. The practicality for aviation began to be read as a shape that signals bravery, speed, and a metropolitan attitude.
the 1950s–70s,
Frames began to stand out more than lenses
1Ray-Ban’s “Original Wayfarer,” introduced in 1952, can be seen as a model that shifts the sunglasses’ visual weight from the lenses to the frame. Ray-Ban Official History
While aviators captured the face with functional metal lines, wayfarers put the planes and angles of the frame front and center. It feels less like you’re looking at sunglasses and more like you’re seeing an outline placed across the face.
From the late 1960s into the 1970s, figures such as Jackie Onassis popularized large frames, and sunglasses became an item that creates glamour and a sense of distance by covering the face. Vogue also summarizes that after mass production by Sam Foster, in the late 1960s Onassis and others popularized oversized frames, and by the 1970s larger lenses became firmly established. Vogue｜An Ode to Bug-Eyed Sunglasses
For the first time here, sunglasses clearly shifted from “protecting the eyes” to “styling the face itself.”
the 1980s–90s,
Sunglasses became characters
1In the 1980s, sunglasses become symbols that immediately communicate a character’s personality in films and music videos. Black frames, dark lenses, sharp outlines. Without even describing an outfit, you can tell what kind of stance that person is taking.
Meanwhile, from the 1990s into the 2000s, smaller frames—horizontal and shaped to draw a thin line across the center of the face—came to stand out. In Vogue as well, the 2024 edition introduces sunglasses that continue the style of the time: “small, but not tiny,” which are once again gaining support. Vogue｜Small—but Not Tiny! Sunglasses
If large frames are meant to cover the face, then in the 1990s, narrow sunglasses weren’t about hiding—it was more like drawing a single line around the eye area. Rather than anonymity, they create a slightly nervous, city-dwelling, and somehow cool atmosphere. It makes it clear how the role of sunglasses has shifted from “making you disappear” to “showing you in a particular way.”
This era’s sensibility is not returning simply out of nostalgia. Slender frames, horizontally elongated lenses, and a metallic finish can be paired with tailored pieces and long coats, so you can modernize only the area around the face without making your outfit look too much like vintage.
the 2010s,
Eyewear replaced makeup
2From 2015 onward, at Gucci, Alessandro Michele placed highly ornate glasses at the center of the runway. Vogue describes how, in his collections, eyewear became an essential element of the season, and that the larger the frames, the less important it seemed that actual makeup was. Vogue｜13 Women Who Made Glasses Their Beauty Signature
Here, eyewear has taken on a role closer to makeup—not an accessory added after getting dressed, but something used to determine the face.
That momentum extends to sunglasses as well. In Miu Miu’s 2023 collection, slender, long, wire frames reminiscent of the 2000s were once again in the spotlight, and as so-called “Bayonetta glasses,” the look—featuring a kind of unsettling yet intelligent facial styling—became a talking point. Vogue｜Bayonetta Glasses’ Revival
What matters is that this is not merely a “recreation of Y2K.” What is being brought back is not the shape of clothing, but a way to instantly change a face’s character through eyewear.
2025–26,
Turned back in the direction of concealing the face
What is particularly interesting is that, after the trend for slender frames continued, extremely large sunglasses have now made a comeback.
Vogue Singapore reports that for the 2025 fall/winter season, while small, slim wire frames can be seen on Prada’s runway and in the streets, many large bug-eyed frames also appeared in the same season. Vogue Singapore｜Eyewear Trends in 2025
In other words, this is not a simple storyline of “small sunglasses have been replaced by big ones.” The direction of leaving the face visible and the direction of covering it exist at the same time.
On the 2026 runway and among celebrities, the latter kind of presence has only grown stronger. Vogue reports that after a stretch of the trend toward small glasses, oversized frames that cover much of the brows and the majority of the nose are becoming more common. For Resort 2026, Fendi, Gucci, Balenciaga, Khaite, and others proposed bug-eyed and geometric-shaped sunglasses with colored lenses. Vogue｜Think Big: Oversized Sunglasses
Furthermore, 2026 shield styles are not just sports sunglasses. Designs that cover the face are being reimagined in a luxury context—Phoebe Philo’s Bombé, Saint Laurent’s Howl, Miu Miu’s Ivresse, Bottega Veneta’s Scudo, Loewe’s Speed Shield, Celine’s rimless models, and more. Wallpaper*｜Shield Sunglasses SS26
Here, Hollywood-like anonymity from the late 1990s into the early 2000s is coming back. However, this is not a revival of that era. Wallpaper* reads Demna’s Gucci mask-style frames as an extension of the reinvention that took place during the Tom Ford period at Gucci in the 1990s. What today’s luxury is quoting is not the shape itself, but the attitude of creating presence by concealing the face. Wallpaper*｜Gucci mask-style frames
Today’s shields are not simply made to make you look like a celebrity—they treat the face’s surface area itself as a design element. Sunglasses cover the face as if it were a tinted window.
Even so,
More sunglasses are showing the eyes
One On the other hand, in 2026 as well, sports-style frames using pale lenses are also expanding.
The Guardian reports that shield and wraparound eyewear originally made for runners and cyclists has been entering fashion as “non-sun sunglasses” with pale lenses. Examples include Celine’s massive rimless frames and models from Oakley, and the ability to see the eyes has become one of the defining features of this trend. The Guardian｜Non-sun sunglasses
This indicates that sunglasses have become a face-framing item used all year round. Rather than whether it is sunny or not, what matters is how much functionality is visible—and how much anonymity you leave behind.
A shield that fully conceals the eyes with black lenses, and a thin sports frame that leaves the eye area exposed. They look diametrically opposed, but both share one point: they do not show your face as-is. The former covers the face; the latter layers different functionality onto it.
From here on, sunglasses will be
Choose “how much to show” over shape.
MWhat OOD senses in today’s movement is that the main battleground for the next sunglasses is shifting away from a trend of simple shapes toward a design question: how much of the face to show.
Slim wire frames draw a line around the eye area while still leaving the face visible. Thick acetate strengthens the impression of the brows and cheekbones. Dark shields turn the face into a single surface, while pale lenses add a hint of sports and technology. Brown or amber lenses soften the tension of black clothing while leaving color on the face.
From now on, it will be more interesting to style by placing different eras between the clothing and the face, rather than leaning your whole look into a single trend. Pair a classic trench coat with slim frames from the 1990s. Set a sports-derived shield on a neat tailored piece. Match a silk blouse with oversized amber lenses, and bring the volume of the 1970s back only around the face.
You do not need to recreate Y2K exactly as it was. What you should borrow is not the clothing of the time, but the idea of using sunglasses to change the character of the face in an instant.
When looking at vintage sunglasses, it is not only the brand name and logo you should watch. Look at the vertical width of the frame, the position of the bridge, the thickness of the temples, the hardware, and the color of the lenses. One pair can be made to hide the face, or to draw lines on it, or to cover the entire face. Once you look that closely, it becomes clear how past sunglasses can return to today’s styling.
- Foster Grant｜About Us
- Ray-Ban｜The History of Ray-Ban Glasses
- Vogue｜An Ode to Bug-Eyed Sunglasses
- Vogue｜Small—but Not Tiny! Sunglasses
- Vogue｜13 Women Who Made Glasses Their Beauty Signature
- Vogue｜The Revival of Bayonetta Glasses
- Vogue Singapore｜Eyewear Trends in 2025
- Vogue｜Think Big: Oversized Sunglasses
- Wallpaper*｜Shield Sunglasses SS26
- The Guardian｜Non-sun sunglasses
How much to show. Where to shift to another face.
Choosing that boundary itself is styling.
Sunglasses were originally a tool to protect the eyes.
And yet today, their value is not limited to concealing the eyes. It lies in deciding how much to show—and from where to shift to another face. Choosing that boundary itself becomes styling.
That is why at MOOD, we want to look at sunglasses not as a finishing accessory added at the end, but as a design placed between the face and the clothing.
The sunglasses that you should pay attention to right now are neither the widest kind nor the slimmest kind. They are a pair that changes the way a person’s face is read the moment they are worn.
