The idea that we need to tell you to run out and buy anything Chanel likely sounds pretty preposterous. But Chanel’s new eyewear collection is just that good. What’s more shocking, however, is that the internet is barely talking about Chanel's fresh selection of gorgeous sunglasses.
Perhaps the current Chanel eyewear collection's best feature is its variety. And we’re not just talking about a range of colors and shapes because the glasses available represent a myriad of aesthetics.
These round camelia-trimmed sunnies, for instance, are quintessentially Chanel in their combination of gamine elegance and feminine whimsy. But we’re especially obsessed with the maison’s take on shield sunglasses.
A sartorial staple in the 1970s, notably in the US, shield sunnies, back then, represented innovation: for the first time, you could bend the lens to create this bold wraparound style.
It picked up more steam in the late-90s and early aughts when you saw them on superstars like Britney Spears. And like everything else that was hot during the Y2K craze, shield sunglasses have made a 2023 comeback.
Now if you do a quick Twitter (or X) search for “Chanel shields,” you’ll find a few tweets (or Xes?) of people sharing photos of themselves wearing this style of sunnies from the mid-2010s. They were enormous. And these oversized acetate shields with its ombre effect are similar in vibe. And of the pieces that Chanel has out now, these are also the perfect entry-level shields.
You know, as much as you can actually call anything Chanel "entry-level."
The others, however, are smaller and directional and much more in-line with 2023 fashion trends as far as championing Y2K aesthetics are concerned. These metal-trimmed beauties with contrasting nylon temples will have you feeling like an F1 enthusiast.
While these rhinestone shields with the pink-to-blue gradient lens are definitely giving us peak-era Britney—just wear it with low-rise leather trousers, and you better work, b*tch. And while we couldn’t have anticipated a Britney-meets-Chanel moment (she is much more of a Versace girlie, isn’t she?), given how topical the pop icon is these days, we can’t imagine a more relevant source of fashion inspo.
