The choice of materials in eyewear is wider than ever for 2008/09, with nearly two million products at this year’s MIDO in Milan.

Eyewear designers are experimenting with all kinds of materials to bring more and more originality - and new commercial potential - to their collections. Although the traditional metal/plastic combo is still hugely popular, there are lots of inspiring new combination frames with features designed for comfort and ease of wear.

There’s lots of emphasis on intricate designs and patterned materials this year, with new treatments like metal tracery and inserts creating beautiful and highly technical decorative details that convey an organic feeling to the frames.

High-tech proposals are prevalent and, as always, the flexible memory metals still hold their popularity across the collections for men, women and children. Like stainless steel and aluminium, titanium and beta titanium are hot again this year, and increasingly appear not just in the more exclusive ranges but also in the mid-priced collections.

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Acetate is still very popular; laminations, laser techniques, interesting shaded patterning and transparency are particularly popular effects. Across the designer collections, the vintage theme also favours the use of acetate, and is combined with metal in increasingly special ways.

Other new ideas include recycled plastic and metal components, exotic pairings of ceramic and polyamide. Some new styles emerging this year reveal a move towards classic design. A number of men’s models feature a vintage look, and especially a Rayban-like drop shape, using acetate and metal combined. Sunglass lenses mostly use a range of classic and restful colours, including brown, smoke-grey, grey, blue, green and black.

Browse through the new Optique Line website to see how the latest trends and styles have been incorporated into the new range of frames from Optique Line.