What would a summer culture-vulture be without sunglasses? She wandering all carefree and protected behind large dark glasses like Audrey Hepburn alias Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, he pensively dipping his large glasses and looking over them, best of all like Marcello Mastroianni alias Guido Anselmi in “8 ½”, when taking a closer look at the beautiful women coming towards – even if, in this case, it is all a matter of the imagination.

We love to think that dark lenses, especially reflective ones (again) really boost the coolness of our not-always-all-that self-confident egos. Because sunglasses are always more than merely protection and shading for the eyes. They play the main role when you take the stage in the forever repeated summer theater of sun performance – and definitely not just in post-War movies, but likewise in the music world of the 1970s. For example, Corey Hart would have us believe he wears his shades at night (“I wear my sunglasses at night”), and Iggy Pop asks himself whether he’s worth the girl who wears such great shades (“These shades say something / I’ll bet they cost a lot / I hope I don’t break ’em / I hope we don’t break up”). Status Quo sang of a man who was a “peeping-tom techy with x-ray eyes” who felt “the future’s so bright I gotta wear shades”.

So the conclusion must be: Show me your shades and I’ll say who you are. Anyone wearing sunglasses is consciously leisurely, views things through a colored filter from a distance, and makes a mystery of what she just happens so casually to be looking at. And if she is wearing the very latest model, then she indicates that she is a member of the community of the fashion conscious. Which possibly explains why frames from fashion brands such as Dior, Prada, Fendi or The Row will set you back a whopping 200-400 euros. An extravagant design by a cherished brand simply costs real money, even if we all know what an immense image bubble surrounds those shady circles.

This year, fashionable ladies opt for large, round frames à la Mia Farrow, befitting the 1970s trend. Or aviator specs with reflective lens in Instagram rainbow colors. The no less fashion-conscious gents prefer blue Ray Bans. However, the most eye-catching symbols in the great summer show balance on the nose of model Cara Delevingne, a sugar-sweet 22-year-old who is fast emerging as the new Claudia Schiffer. She was last spotted at Stella McCartney’s “Spring Preview 2016” in New York, where the hottest topic (in addition to her relationship with musician St. Vincent) was her Fendi sunglasses. Its ingenious frames are made of two elements the one superimposed over the other: A round white set is placed on top of a black one with cat-eye corners, and cut-out details into the bargain. Then the sidepieces are shaped like stairs – guaranteed to have everyone gawping, whichever side they see you from.

For the record:
1. With immediate effect, sunglasses may be small cubist artworks.
2. Those cheeky cat-eye corners can’t be wrong for women.
3. A tarnished complexion caused by the strange shape need to be borne with bearing, or are they simply the next hype?

So we set out to find a few of the most outlandish models with which you were certainly step into the light.