If the rumour that Sir Elton John has had corrective eye surgery is true, we can look forward to an auction of his collection of over 4,000 pairs of weird and wonderful glasses. The singer has admitted to buying five times as many over the years, so whatever remains in his collection is sure to make one of the most definitive collections of eccentric glasses around.

But where did they all come from? Dennis Roberts was the visionary behind the idea that eyeglasses could not only be a fashion statement but an immortalising prop. Many of Elton John's more outrageous creations – as well as some of the more iconic sunglasses worn by Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, Cher and virtually anybody who has been anybody since the late 60s – were made by Roberts at his legendary Sunset Boulevard shop, Optique Boutique.

With Tony Gross from Cutler & Gross having last year started a wholesale business out of his vast collection acquired since the 60s and Linda Farrow's son Simon Jablon stumbling upon his mother's warehouse, vintage sunglasses are now to be found in the most directional select shops and department stores across the globe.

Cutler & Gross long ago made a name for themselves as the witty optical interpreters of British non-conformity, with catwalk collaborations with London designers in the past producing a few wild inventions as well.

Likewise, part of Jablon's plan to relaunch Linda Farrow has been to get some of the capital's young designers to use vintage Farrow booty in their shows. The FrostFrench spring/summer 2005 show saw oversized insect-like sunglasses taken in part from both Cutler & Gross and Linda Farrow.

Jablon's first partnership to develop an eyewear range for a young designer brand was with Tata-Naka last year and he has now extended this project out to a license with Eley Kishomoto, who's first playful collection is inspired by retro hallucinations of their local Brixton area of south London.

Miuccia Prada at Miu Miu is leading the big brands with unconventional eyewear on the catwalk. A glossy palette of mints and lavenders is superimposed over trompe l'oeil-effect double frames in sienna and tan earth-tones in a sleek, sophisticated take on 70s retro.

The deconstruction of eyewear in fashion can be a way to criticise the aspirational and glamorous subtext that sunglasses now often have.

Swedish-born Ann-Sofie Back is a good example of this. As part of a greater body of work she has been developing in womenswear, her heroines confess consistent failure at achieving conventional glamour. The designer's usual creative point-of-departure is a cathartic one, tackling those elements of fashion she abhors the most.

She told WGSN: "I've been wanting to make sunglasses for a long time, mainly because I don't like them. Any designer with an aim for world-domination needs the sunglasses, the bags and the perfume." Her jumbled glasses are cross-bred mutants from Linda Farrow and other vintage spare parts, each model hand assembled in the studio.

On the other side of the conceptual camp of eccentric eyewear sit Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag, designers of Bless. Their series of experimental eyewear products is part of an ongoing deal with pioneer Alain Mikli in Paris where they are based. Their first product launched earlier this year, the Sunshield, is a uni-lens that looks like futuristic sun-visor for the eyes. It is a fully functional classic item for Bless and has gained enormous cult popularity in the more avant-garde stockists from as far afield as New York, London, Hong Kong and Melbourne.

Bless' most recent prototype is reportedly not yet fully tweaked but is being marketed more as a "face accessory" than as a pair of sunglasses. These Make-up Glasses have demi-contour lenses suspended over others to create a mid-air collage, refracting various shadows over the face in what could be described as virtual make-up.

A few eccentrics on the fringe have also begun e-marketing wacky eyewear to the global village.

Russian Alexander Vinyar's hand-carved frames in precious wood and ivory are literal interpretations of Tutankhamen's tomb, birds of prey claws or deep-sea barnacles. Vinyar has even come up with the novel idea of making matching wooden jewellery sets of earrings, a ring and bangles to go with your custom glasses.

Elsewhere, New Zealander Brian Adam's one-off range springs from the south Pacific with curiously shaped frames of rare shells and coral set in sterling silver.

And let us not forget some of the eccentric eyewear closest to home. Inspiring for their relentless dedication to create an unrivalled style, a few of fashion's more extraordinary critics have moulded their looks around glasses.

Japanese fashion TV presenter Junko Ouchi hasn't been seen without her gargantuan sunglasses in decades. Ingrid Sischy from Interview magazine has had her thick nerd specs remade in several shades of the rainbow over the years. Diane Pernet has been with her Alain Mikli cat frames now since 1984; while Isabella Blow has hundreds tucked away in her bursting wardrobe.

Whether timeless, calculated or impulsive, eccentric eyewear is certainly back.