BLAKE KUWAHARA

I’m embarrassed to say that this project started out as most things in my life: driven by aesthetics and selfishness. It was done to fulfill my own design needs and that of my circle that live in a very visual world: artists, filmmakers, architects, fashionistas, and designers of all sorts.

A photographer friend mentioned one night that she couldn’t find any glasses that suited her look. They were either too “cartoonish”, “old-lady-like”, or “boringly preppy”. “I want a pair like you’re wearing - stylish, but understated”, she said pointing to my glasses - a pair of prototypes - simple and sleek, yet with a subtle but obvious edge.

I have to admit, I am a bit of a contradiction. I have a weakness for minimalist fashion, but I am not a purest; I am compelled to mix Jil Sander with distressed jeans and worn boots. And, like many people I know, straddle both the artistic and business worlds. It was fair to say that many of us struggled to find suitable eyewear - hence the prototype I designed for myself.

So from that dinner conversation came the inspiration and proverbial push for launching my signature brand - a collection of frames that are a mashup of my colliding aesthetics with special attention paid to sculpting and tactility.

They are artful but wearable. By using laborious production techniques and a lot of handwork, an inner silhouette is encased in an unexpectedly fresh outer shape. This seamless fusion of two frames and the juxtaposition of contrasting form and color create a design tension that is thoroughly modern yet comfortably familiar.

A paradox. Like me.