Acetate up front, titanium underneath: the mixed build running through 2026, in optical and sun
Leeyewear
This season's new releases keep circling back to the same pairing: acetate up front, titanium doing the holding. A thin titanium structure under a chunky acetate front. The texture buyers want to touch lives in the acetate; anything that carries load stays titanium.
It lands on both ends of the product line. On optical frames, titanium does the heavy lifting - all-day wear is a weight game, and the acetate front handles the looks. Leeyewear titanium optical frames page.
Sunglasses take the same pairing and loosen up: thick clear and matte acetate fronts, titanium temples and hinges, so the whole thing sits light on the face. Leeyewear acetate sunglasses page.
And it isn't one brand doing it. Trade coverage out of the opti fair in Munich and the Austrian opticians' chamber both put transparent and mixed-material builds on the 2026 agenda, and the trend forecasters have mixed frames running into 2027. (Sources at the bottom.)
For anyone building private-label frames, material choice stops being a style decision right about here. A mixed frame is two engineering jobs stacked onto one front. The acetate half has to cut, polish and heat-form without warping. The titanium half has to run thin, run light, fit true, and hold up through years of wear.
For us, this build is a regular Tuesday. Acetate front, beta-titanium temples, titanium hinges, a touch of metal alloy trim - routine on our line. Around it sits the full custom setup: injection molding for PC, TR90, nylon, TPU and PP, alongside acetate, titanium, carbon fiber and metal alloy frames. Optical and sun, OEM/ODM private label, and small batches are fine.
Now the numbers buyers ask about first. Using the usual frame-only reference - M/L sizes, no lenses - a full acetate optical frame runs 20–28 g; the same front on beta-titanium temples drops to 15–22 g. Sunglasses add 5–10 g once the front thickens (6–8 mm in clear and matte) and the lenses go in. Adjustment takes two temperatures: acetate softens around 80 °C, titanium bends cold, and heating a whole temple is exactly how you get a kink where the titanium core ends. On samples, ask for 500–1,000 open-close cycles on the hinge, then re-measure the temple angle. Once the construction is confirmed, samples typically take 10–15 working days; bulk runs 60–90.
A straight word for anyone planning next season's buy: the mixed-frame wave is settling, and it favors suppliers who can actually join the two materials. If you're weighing an acetate-plus-titanium line - optical or sun - send the sketch or the reference image over. Construction, weight, lead time. We'll give you a straight answer.
Sources
Optician Online, "Opti: Tomorrow's eyewear trends today" - https://www.opticianonline.net/content/features/opti-tomorrow-s-eyewear-trends-today
WKO Tirol, "Brillentrends 2026" - https://www.wko.at/tirol/gewerbe-handwerk/gesundheitsberufe/augenoptiker/brillentrends-2026
Selin Olmsted Studio, "2026 Eyewear Trend Report" - https://www.selinolmsted.com/2026-trend-report