By Deirdre Carroll: Senior Editor

 
OMBRÈ POSTER
WHO: From several of the gowns that closed the Zac Posen Fall 2011 ready-to-wear collection to the rainbow-hued chiffon that helped add pops of color to Nicole Millers Resort 2012 collection several designers are featuring the “fade.” Nearly some aspect of every look from the 3.1 Phillip Lim Spring 2012 Menswear collection looked drastically dip-dyed, while the Olivier Theyskens for Theory Resort 2012 collection focused on more subtle, earthier shaded tones and generally at least one of Hervé Léger’s infamous bandage dresses each season seems to feature graduated colors. Add to that list the various hair colorings of Nicki Minaj, Drew Barrymore and Rachel Bilson and the nail art of Lauren Conrad and ombré is well and truly happening people.

WHAT: Ombré is a French word that means “shadow” or “shade” and is characterized by colors that are graduated in tone. Given that it has made an appearance on everything from clothes to hair to nails over the last several seasons it was only a matter of time before eyewear gave into the fade.

WEAR: (Top to bottom) The John Varvatos brand is at once masculine and high fashion, so too is the “Guitar Hero” V345 optical style from Base Curve with its strong, bold lines, guitar headstock logo and brown to grey colored gradient. Just like its name, the Night Stand from Von Zipper is a sexy frame; it’s turned the usual color placement upside down and put a deep teal on top which fades into a more wearable color, a chestnut brown, near the cheeks. Like the Prada fashion collection, the VPR 06N style from Luxottica features an unexpected twist, the opaque gray top blends into a crystal light blue bottom. Tom Ford is well known for its feminine designs and the TF139 from Marcolin does not disappoint; a rounded eye shape with soft contours is paired with a translucent taupe browline and a seafoam underside. The design philosophy of the Seraphin collection from Ogi Eyewear is based in neoclassicism—classic styles with a modern edge—and the Kipling is exactly that; an imminently wearable modified rectangle that gets updated with an olive green top bar that shades to a baby blue finish.

WHY: More interesting than a solid color and not so drastically out there as to be off-putting, ombré eyewear is a happy medium between boring and outlandish. The shaded hues help ground brighter colors and depending on the tones can work equally well for men or women. Additionally, thanks to the individual characteristics in each sheet of acetate as it is produced the graduated shades in each frame are inherently unique, making every piece feel one of a kind.

dcarroll@jobson.com