DIOR Eyewear

DIOR Eyewear

Dior's sunglasses carry a little of 30 Avenue Montaigne, from the cane-chair Cannage pattern to the CD initials. Notes on the couture house behind these sunglasses, and how to pick the pair that suits your face rather than the campaign.

A Couture House, Scaled Down

Christian Dior showed his first collection on February 12, 1947, at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris, and the house has been mining that address ever since. The salon's gilded Napoleon III chairs had caned seats, and that woven pattern became Cannage, one of Dior's lasting signatures. I love that a chair seat ended up on handbags, jewelry and now sunglasses.

That is really the way to read Dior eyewear. Each frame is a small piece of the house's vocabulary you can wear on your face. The 30Montaigne cat-eyes borrow the address outright. The Dior Bow B1U is the most ornate of the lot, gold-tone and embellished, while the plainer Dior Ribbon S2I square frame lets proportion do the work. Dior's eyewear is now designed and made by Thelios, the LVMH eyewear company with its manufactory in Longarone, Italy.

The Pair You Will Repeat

A confession about designer sunglasses: the pair I love in a campaign is rarely the pair I wear. What gets worn is the frame that works with a gray sweater on a Tuesday. This second group is where Dior feels most wearable to me. The DiorCannage frames put that chair-seat pattern into slim gold-tone metal, subtle enough that only you and the people who know will notice. The DiorPacific ovals in tortoiseshell are the easy, everyday option.

If you want a little theater, the DiorButterfly S2I pushes the cat-eye out into a wing. Try every shape on your actual face, in daylight if you can. Look at where the brow line sits and whether the arms pinch behind your ears. A frame this considered deserves a fit that is just as considered.

Quiet Beats Loud

Dior eyewear is at its best when it references the house quietly. The Cannage and 30Montaigne pieces carry real history, a salon, a chair, a first collection, and that gives them more staying power than a logo on an arm. I would be more careful with the heavily embellished end of the range, which can date quickly and asks the rest of your outfit to go silent. It also comes down to habit. If sunglasses live in your bag all year, this is a good place to spend. If they come out twice a summer, it probably is not. The pair worth buying is the one you would reach for with a plain sweater on a day with no plans.