Marios Schwab and Mykita: Eyes for Clueless

Now that we’re out of the double 0’s, and the 80s-inflected Balmania potentially behind us, we can finally move forward, back to the grungier glory days of the 1990’s. And while we hope velvet scrunchies, The Spice Girls and those sparkly, chunky-heeled Sketcher Sneakers remain in the past, sunglasses seem like a safe and style-savvy way to start the decade’s revival.

Marios Schwab agrees, and for spring, the designer teamed up with Berlin-based eyewear brand Mykita to create two pairs of 90’s-inspired shades, each of which evoke the quirky club kid aesthetic of the Pet Shop Boys, Schoeneberg bondage fantasy, or perhaps even a tech-savvy Yoko Ono. Cut from Mykita’s signature featherweight sheet metal, both the Hamilton (named for the Terminator’s Linda Hamilton) and Jane models feature small, round frames, subtly mirrored lenses and a sleek yet geometric shape.

“Marios came to us with a very clear vision for the model HAMILTON,” said Philip Haffmans, Mykita’s head of design. “He had worn similar shapes back in the 90’s himself, and wanted to do an evolution of this type of shape. We both also wanted to do something round and cute, and that then become model JANE.” Available in cotton-candy shades of mauve or powder, or harsher, more serious hues like black, ultramarine or fir green, each of the models took to a more robotic aesthetic. But while the Terminator-tough Hamiltons emphasize a harsher silhouette with a double-barred bridge, the Janes play-up a softer, simpler look that recalls that iconic cutie-pie-cum-sex-kitten essence of Alicia Silverstone circa Clueless.