This crazy Taiwan trend, which allegedly originated in Japan in the 1990's, has now become popular elsewhere. In Hong Kong the city's hip young crowd wear glasses not to see but wears them to be seen.

That's clear when you look closely at the people crowding Hong Kong's busy shopping streets. In many cases the glasses have no glass. The plastic frames, usually in black, tortoiseshell or bright colors, are empty.

Why not frames with plain glass in them?

"The girls don't like the reflection from the lenses. It impacts on their overall look," says Kenny Chan, general manager of Optical 88 Ltd., a chain of stores that sells over a quarter of all eyewear in the territory.

On a recent Saturday afternoon in Causeway Bay, one of the city's congested shopping meccas, dozens of young people walked the crowded streets wearing lens-free glasses.

"It makes my eyes look bigger," said Raymond Chan, a Hong Kong nurse in his twenties who happens to have perfect vision. He was wearing dark frames with air where the lenses normally go. He has worn them for some time now, usually when he is out shopping, a favorite pastime here.

How to Make a Spectacle of Yourself in Frames With No Glass in Them