Why Zoe de Pass

A friend first, and a favourite second. Zoe is a great friend of mine and one of the most joyful people I know about colour — the sort who finds the brightest thing in the room and puts it on. So when she designed her own eyewear brand, I knew straight away that I wanted to stock it one day. This is that day.

I own about six pairs, and I will be honest with you. I am not a careful sunglasses owner. Mine get dropped, thrown into a bag without a case, and take a fair few knocks along the way. And the truth is they simply do not scratch. That is my own experience of wearing them, not a claim from a brochure, and it is the reason I have kept buying them.

A different pair for every mood. That is genuinely how I wear them — one pair for a day that needs lifting, another for an event, another that just feels right that morning. Sunglasses are the cheapest way to change how a whole outfit reads, and when they are this colourful they do a great deal of the work for you.

Handmade acetate, properly made. Each frame is handcrafted from premium acetate and fitted with Category 3 lenses — the right tint for bright sunshine — with an anti-reflective coating and full UV protection. Lightweight enough to forget you have them on. The frames can also be fitted with prescription lenses.

Five shapes, and colour throughout. Lauryn is the square cat-eye, Lily the softer cat-eye, Dolly the hexagonal, Diana the oversized square and Grace the rectangular. In forest green, mint green, deep green, candy pink, hot pink, fuchsia, magenta, lilac, pearl white and tortoiseshell — plus the limited edition glitter styles in green, pink and red, and the Sunset ombre that runs purple into orange.

And yes, these are for you. The bonnie mob family store is mostly for babies and children. This part is not. Zoe de Pass sits with the gifts for mum, because somebody has to be looking after the grown-ups too.

Colourful sunglasses for women, glitter sunglasses, unusual sunglasses, green sunglasses, pink sunglasses, cat eye sunglasses, hexagonal sunglasses and oversized square sunglasses — handmade acetate, stocked at the bonnie mob.