Like all its peers, Gentle Monster has had to adapt and improvise due to COVID-19 required lockdown measures. This year, the South Korean brand developed and launched a virtual eyewear collection titled “Redefinition of Eyewear,” which the brand said aims to explore “the endless possibilities of eyewear.” To do this, Gentle Monster questions and reworks the definition and nature of eyewear, and takes the concept to new, unconventional places. In collaboration with artists including Daisy Collingridge, Damien Blottiere, Esmay Wagemans, Gentle Monster, Ikeuchi Hiroto, James Merry, Liz Sexton, Lyle Xox and Shavla Nikivashvili, a new look at eyewear is coming to light.

The styles within the collection are far from the functional, protective eyewear we’re all so familiar with—and it’s likely not something most ECPs will be selling to their patients often, if at all. But the collection does plant seeds, perhaps hinting at the beginning of another trend toward oversized, over the top, out of the box, creative eyewear. With most of us having spent all our time inside over the past half a year, and with face coverings becoming the norm, it only makes sense that we’d begin searching for new ways to show off our personalities—and exciting eyewear might be just what the doctor ordered.



Designed by Daisy May Collingridge, Clem takes eyewear to a new level by imagining it as an extension of human skin. Image via Gentle Monster on Instagram.

 

From Gentle Monster, Tangible Light is inspired by “the shape of light.” Image via Gentle Monster on Instagram. 



Sacrum, by James Merry, is reminiscent of Venetian Carnival masks, and draws inspiration from anatomy. Image via Gentle Monster on Instagram.


Artificial Fluidity by Esmay Wagemans is one of the more traditional eyewear styles in the collection, but with its futuristic mood it still pushes boundaries. Image via Gentle Monster on Instagram.