As the world carries on with its breakthroughs and pitfalls, fashion trends around the globe evolve alongside it. With a healthy mix of resurging and novel fashion trends of clothing nowadays, predicting the next hit of the next century can be tough to speculate.
Will the fashion of the future look anything like that from the century past? We may have honed in and perfected the “comfortable and casual” wear, but is there still room for growth—particularly in the eyewear department?
One thing’s for certain: sunglasses and eyewear are here to stay. Fashion accessories have existed for over 2,000 years, tinted eyewear was independently made in China and Italy—nations thousands of miles apart—to allow folks to symbolize their wealth.
Iterations of past have continued to evolve until the modern concept of sunglasses caught on in the 18th century when initially it use to block UV rays finally came into light.
While sunglasses are now more accessible and useful, their constantly underlying purpose continues to mold to fit the times.
From a health essential to a fashion and cultural element, modern-day sunglasses are likely to take on an even grander form and purpose in one hundred years.
How so, you may wonder. Well, here are some of our speculations when it comes to the future of sunglasses. Let’s jump right into it!
1. Timeless Fashion
While the adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” may seem restrictive of growth, this statement holds a degree of truth in the eyewear department.
A lot of fashionable sunglasses that continue to be used today have been around since the early to mid-1900s.
Throughout the years, the popularity of these sunglasses has also remained steady.
For example, aviators—which were initially designed to help U.S. Air Force pilots see the horizon without sunlight interference—are still making their mark in men’s fashion wardrobes in the mid-2020s.
Another example is Wayfarers, a pair of sunglasses designed in the 1950s with a bold and boxy frame that continues to flaunt a nice unisex style.
Oval sunglasses have been around since the vintage era of fashion, and notable celebrities like Billie Eilish have even confidently flaunted a pair of them at the 2025 GRAMMY Awards.
And other styles like cat-eye, round, and rectangle-shaped sunglasses? All of them can easily fit a modern fashion trend with the right outfit to back them up.
In essence, a lot of these iconic sunglass designs have turned into bona fide classics in this day and age.
With a world full of fashionistas adopting various fashion trends and expressions, there’s always going to be room for vintage-era sunglasses to remain hip and popular or embedded deep inside the public consciousness to make an eventual comeback.
The most practical and commonly used pair of sunglasses, we believe, are unlikely to fall down in the next fashion cycle. These accessories have both utility and aesthetics that allow them to stand the test of time.
2. Super Sustainable Material
The shape and form of current sunglasses may still be present a century from now, but the materials used to make them may differ slightly to accommodate changing environmental conditions.
For one, sustainable brands may look into continuing or adopting novel ways to recycle and upcycle discarded materials. Nowadays, many brands are experimenting with discarded plastic waste products to create fully functional and aesthetic frames for various types of sunglasses.
Furthermore, we also expect brands of the future to continue experimenting with making sunglasses made from natural and biodegradable materials that are still durable and aesthetic.
Bamboo and mycelium-based sunglasses may start to gain some traction as more people enter the eco-friendly era. Once the sunglasses have served their purpose, they can be discarded and naturally break down in just a few years and not a thousand years, unlike their plastic-made predecessors.
In any case, the state of the environment and ecology of the world will play a large role in dictating the future of sunglasses and fashion as a whole.
If governments collectively call to action the need to promote more sustainable alternatives, or if consumers opt for sustainable options with their money, then a norm of eco-friendly frames may be coming much sooner than a hundred years and will likely remain strong for years to come.
3. Smart Glasses
Sunglasses have historically been used to veil a person’s expression and intent. However, with the proliferation of technology and its integration into many of our everyday items, it’s not unlikely for a standard pair of sunglasses to have smart technology and artificial intelligence integration built into the design.
There are currently many iterations of smart glasses nowadays that offer a wide range of functions. They have phone connectivity features that allow you to see and hear messages, built-in audio and video recording software, environmental system mechanisms and much more.
That said, the technology of smart glasses is still in its infancy stage—especially when it comes to AI integration. The room for creativity to integrate AI is vast, with integrations like AI personal assistants, health monitoring, and augmented reality (AR) integration to view messages in real-time all being possibilities.
Furthermore, smart glasses may even have enhanced eye-protection capabilities. It can, for instance, read your eye health and create a better lens type to fit your current eyesight and mood.
Given the influence tech has in our daily lives, it’s very likely that smart glasses will be the norm in a hundred years. And it won’t just be exclusive to people with money, but accessible to everyone in need.
4. UV Protected Sunglasses
Sunglass brands will continue to evolve and innovate year after year, and these minor innovations can be quite dramatic over the course of a century.
It’s very likely that future sunglasses will have better materials and UV-protecting capabilities as the science behind lens-making matures and becomes more comprehensive.
Furthermore, the need for durable products and UV protection will only increase as time passes. The climate of the future is a huge question mark, but if it follows the trends of the past few decades, the outlook isn’t shaping up to be too good for both our eye health and general health.
Given this projected heightened demand for eco-friendly products, eyewear companies will strive to meet that consumer needs and create products that are made from durable and sustainable materials. They’ll also focus on creating a lens type that can help ward off the sun’s UV rays more thoroughly.
That said, it should be noted that many of the current catalogues of sunglasses in the market today already show innovative features that are close to perfection in both aspects. Case in point, 1001 Optometry feature a balanced mix of form and functionality in many of their eyewear types.
In any case, there’s a high likelihood for sunglass brands to build products with better materials with more durability and UV ray-warding potential in the future. These innovations will impact the frame, lens, and ridge—which, if time taught us anything, can be considered marked improvements of past iterations.
5. Solar Tech Sunglasses
Another likely norm in the future is solar-powered eyewear. The term sunglasses will take on a whole new meaning.
If smart sunglasses take off (which we expect they’d do), then they may rely less on batteries and charging and instead turn towards solar energy to fully power it up. This invention may be deemed a necessary step as lithium and metal sources dry up in the future, creating the need to turn to more sustainable products.
In the future, science may progress fast enough to create solar panels small enough to fit into everyday items—like sunglasses. Solar panels embedded into sunglasses frames or temples can harness renewable energy from the sun.
This technology can then be used to power smart sunglasses without relying on disposable batteries or electricity. This isn’t only convenient, but it can also be lifesaving. Lost in the woods? Use these tech sunglasses to boot up a GPS and find your way back to civilisation.
And, don’t worry, you’ll still look good while doing it!
