Specs-tacular

This season’s Darren Kennedy Recommends edit has everything from classics to this season’s trends

Long established as Ireland’s most stylish spectacle wearer, Darren Kennedy has been wearing glasses for twenty years. “It was my first week at secondary school and I ended up sitting down the back of the class with this group who had no more interest in school than the back of a bus. I wanted to learn French so I thought I have to get away from these lads,” he laughs. “So I told my mam I couldn’t see the black board. She brought me for an eye test, and in an unexpected turn of events it transpires I needed glasses.”

Having since made them a signature part of his look, he tends to keep two to three on rotation. “At the moment, for me, it’s a Gant pair, a really lightweight titanium. I’ve nicknamed them my Harry Potters. Then another pair of tortoiseshell that I love. I give them all nicknames.” As one of Ireland’s best dressed men, Darren says his glasses are now a key ingredient of his style. “Guys have less maintenance, but the result of that is we have less tools at our disposal; no make-up, fewer accessories. So glasses are a great way of injecting a little bit more personality to your look. It’s also a great way of changing up your look without costing the earth.”

If you’re keen to try something different but a little nervous, Darren’s tip is Specsacers 2 for 1 offer. “It allows you to buy an experimental pair, and also a pair that you know are going to work hard for you. What you’ll probably find is that the more you get used to wearing the experimental pair, the more you pull yourself out of your comfort zone. It allows you to be more free with yourself.

“Working with Specsavers is an absolute dream. My relationship with the brand began about five years ago and it has grown very organically. Each year I travel to their headquarters in Guernsey to go through hundreds of frame styles to put together my seasonal collections.”