Eyewear trend: Funky and elegant

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In the past, many people have held to the opinion that eyeglasses make someone look serious, older, and altogether unfashionable -- like a bookworm. That is why many choose contact lenses rather than glasses to rectify poor vision.

Actually, many people now wear eyeglasses in order to improve their physical performance and boost self-confidence rather than just to improve their vision.

Andre, an 26-year-old employee of a multinational company, is among those who wear glasses as part of his lifestyle. He indeed has poor eyesight.

Andre says he has a number of pairs of glasses, which he wears on different occasions. At the office, he wears small black- framed glasses. When out and about or on holiday, he uses different glasses, replacing his conservative "office" glasses with more colorful styles.

"Now, eyewear is trending towards the funky and elegant, with various shapes and colors," LookZ's marketing manager Rika Melianti told The Jakarta Post recently.

Rika said LookZ, which was established just last year and has an outlet in Plaza Indonesia, Central Jakarta, provides trendy world designer glasses.

In terms of shape, eyeglasses are no longer just big circle or square frames. Curved bars and flat fronts are among the many innovative shapes now found in eyeglasses.

While frames of glasses are traditionally colored black, silver and gold, now people who care about their looks have many colors to choose from, including blues, pinks, yellows, browns and even mixed colors.

The various colors and shapes reflect the different concepts and messages that their designers wish to express. Multiculturalism, the importance of technology and even safe sex, are among the concepts used in new eyewear designs.

Currently popular designs such as Japonism --inspired by Japanese tradition -- and condom-shape temples, reflect messages of multiculturalism and HIV/AIDS prevention.

The designs also create an impression that the wearers, either men or women, are bold, beautiful, young, simple, modern, smart and so on.

Another interesting trend is that eyeglasses are now becoming like cellular phones. You can change the front rims or temples of the glasses with those of different colors.

People will not quickly get bored with their glasses as they will feel they are wearing "new glasses" every time they change the frames.

"Instead of just making vision better, more and more people wear eyeglasses to look trendy," Hermawan Kasoem, the general manager of the Lily Kasoem Optical, one of the country's largest optical chain, said recently.