At this year’s Mido, Livetrend offered a look into the near future of eyewear with a presentation, “2027: The Antidote to Suffering.” The brutally honest title reflects the uncertainty cloaking the world—a topic that participants of the international eyewear trade show Mido did not shy away from.
Driven by artificial intelligence-generated trend mapping, human-led cultural and design research, and analysis of existing market signals, Livetrend offered profiles of separate “micro realities” as eyewear and fashion overall become narrative tools—not simply worn but lived through.
Livetrend identified 4 throughlines forecasted to dominate eyewear design in 2027:
"Mare Noir": Driven by a restless nostalgia, this trend reflects a retreat into a romanticized past as consumers look back to eras they perceive as calmer. The overall mood is gothic and gentle—not dark, but introspective.
>>Design cues: vintage silhouettes, maritime references, and pale, desaturated tones
Urban Beach: This trend copes with hyperactive daily life with irony and flexibility, using humor and exaggeration as emotional armor. Livetrend suggests that by 2027, consumers will want a break from minimalist neutrals and will invest in stronger, expressive color.
>>Design cues: sporty yet playful aesthetics, saturated colors and neon tones, experimental constructions, and a deliberate contrast between minimal and maximal design elements
Primal Relics: Eyewear within this trend attempts to escape modern overload through ritual, spirituality, and nature—framing consumption as a ritualistic response to suffering while offering a step away from reality to reconnect with something older and grounding.
>>Design cues: thin metal structures; warm lens filters; natural, fossil-like acetates (“paleo acetate”); and earthy, spice-inspired color palettes
Summer Residence: Originally identified as a microtrend tied to refined personas, this “lazy luxury” aesthetic has been amplified into the mainstream—an invitation to “tend to the garden of our tastes,” flaunting aspirational softness and curated pleasure.
>>Design cues: soft maximalism, pastels, and a blend of sophisticated and kitsch design elements
Turning away from eyewear design, Livetrend identified 4 overall consumer impulses—not fleeting trends, but behavioral shifts aimed at coping, healing, and regaining agency in the face of climate anxiety, geopolitical tension, tech distrust, and social disconnection.
Slow Seeker, antidote to overwhelm: This group is reacting against speed, overconsumption, and burnout culture. For this consumer, sustainability is no longer aspirational—it’s an ethical baseline behavior. Minimalism isn’t about restriction; it’s about richness, intentionality, and healing. They want products that give back, not end up in a landfill.
>>Key characteristics: rejecting overproduction and disposability, seeking mindfulness and regenerative systems, valuing brands that demonstrate long-term responsibility, and embracing offline time
Strategic Stimulator, antidote to restraint: Some consumers desire to slow down, but this group pushes against emotional numbness. Rather than using joy as an escape, they use it for purposeful reawakening—play, color, and experimentation become tools for engagement.
>>Key characteristics: using joy as a strategy, turning mundane experiences into performance, seeking immersive sensory experiences, and embracing playful contrast and expressive design
Community Weaver, antidote to loneliness: As trust in large institutions declines, this group turns toward smaller, trusted circles, creating infrastructure through community and embracing connection over individualism.
>>Key characteristics: finding meaning in togetherness, feeling skeptical toward large systems, practicing mutual care as resilience, and craving authenticity and shared identity
Future Guardian, antidote to mistrust: This archetype responds to technological overreach, ethical ambiguity, and climate anxiety with stewardship and long-term thinking. Rejecting technology as a master while recognizing its place as a tool, they desire innovation—just not at the cost of humanity or ethics.
>>Key characteristics: reclaiming agency through human-centered technology in the age of AI, balancing preservation with progress, and protecting heritage and identity
Eyewear has always been an effective tool for representing individuality, and increasingly, consumers are looking to companies that align with their values. Brands are encouraged to not just consider what they sell but also how they align with these emotional and cultural shifts.