If I told you that I’ve seen over 500,000 pairs of eyewear in my lifetime, you’d probably think I was exaggerating. But over the past five years as an editor at 20/20, I’ve seen more eyewear styles than I can remember. Each month we excitedly open bags and boxes to preview hundreds of frame styles from over 70 different manufacturers. This is one of my favorite parts of being an editor because it gives us all the opportunity to see what some new brands and companies will be releasing, as well as the upcoming trends that will be hitting the eyewear scene.

The frames you experience in the pages of 20/20 represent the styles that caught the eyes of our editors for numerous reasons. Whether it’s an over-the-top sunglass with Swarovski crystals or a classic colorful tortoise optical style, there’s always an explanation to why this frame was selected. We try to group our choices into various trends and color stories to help our readers better understand what consumers will be looking for when selecting eyewear. Recently I’ve found all of our editors have varying opinions when it comes to style preferences and what specifically qualifies as trendy. Although we sometimes disagree on what should be included in our style feature, we all rally together to pick the best frames to represent upcoming trends. Editor-in-Chief James Spina is an advocate for acetate frames without nosepads in a round or pantos shape, while Web Designer Julie Zidel goes for oversized shapes with cool and colorful design details. Associate Editor Jillian Urcelay has an ongoing fascination with lightweight metal frames, and while I also tend to favor metal styles, my go-to shape is always an aviator. The eyewear experimenters of the group are Art Director Iris Johnson and Executive Editor Christine Yeh, who always seem to step outside of the box and gravitate toward frames in unusual shapes and sizes.

You’ll see these preferences mentioned above throughout our photo feature, where each of us selected one of our favorite sunglasses and explained the importance behind each style. Some of us ventured away from our normal penchants while others stuck with what they know best. I selected a dramatic CatEye sunglass style from Chloe that is definitely outside my realm of comfort.

It’s our job each month to deliver eyewear styles that will resonate with any and all consumers, regardless of age, gender or price. This month we took a more personalized approach that I believe will truly express what we love about eyewear in general. Here’s to hoping you enjoy our choices!

Victoria Garcia
  Senior Associate Editor
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