Industry News

For the third year in a row, KOMONO is proud to renew its partnership with the fashion department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. KOMONO worked together with five master students in the creation of a pair of sunglasses linked to the students’ personal work. The result is an outspoken collection that bolsters the fresh vision of tomorrow’s top designers.

This capsule collection is part of a new project, KOMONO NEXT, a continuous experiment exploring the boundaries of fashion accessories and a platform for some of the world’s most creative talents.

KOMONO x Julie Kegels

Julie Kegels found her main inspiration in The Dinner Party, an installation artwork by Judy Chicago from 1979 in which she sets a gigantic triangular table for 39 strong women. Her collection brings together the concept of dressing up for a dinner party with the idea of this kind of mythical or world-famous woman. The glasses themselves are referencing lace blindfolds.

JULIE – Credits image: Photographer: Anton Fayle, Model: Ilona de Smet, MUA: Emanuelle Bastiaenssen.

KOMONO x Luca Holzinger

An ode to his grandmother who broke free from a restrictive relationship, Luca Holzinger brings an allegory of a secretary who passes by a river and cannot resist going for a swim. When she returns to her office, all her clothes are wet and messed up, yet she feels more beautiful than ever. For the eyewear Luca played around with lycra fabric, commonly used in swimwear, which he draped around an archetypical cat-eye frame. He also added a transparent colorway that feels like liquid water, again referencing this story.

LUCA – Credits image: Photographer: Anton Fayle, Model: Eline Bocxtaele, MUA: Karen Vermeiren.

KOMONO x Kaya Gayoung

Kaya Gayoung Lee sought inspiration in semiotics and symbolism. She wanted to research love as a universal language and how verbal expressions of affection can be translated into garments and eyewear. Both the movie ‘The Color of Pomegranates’ and the photography of Viviane Sassen played a big influence in her work. For the eyewear, she played with shadows and spiky, angular shapes that reference arrows.

KAYA – Credits Image: Photographer: Michael Smits, model: Laurence van de Perre, Indy Isabelle, MUA: Dorothy Vandemaele.

KOMONO x Mohammed el Marnissi

The collection of Mohammed el Marnissi references an Arabian myth about two conflicted lovers who built a labyrinth to keep their relationship a secret. This comes to life in glasses that have a double layer as if there were two frames placed upon each other. Combined with a brownish color palette and graphics inspired by the paintings of Verner Panton, the glasses feel distinctively 60s and reveal a love story in the making.

MOHAMMED – Credits Image: Photographer: Michael Smits, Model: Amine Bahr, MUA: Lonneke van Bleijswijk.

KOMONO x Ingmar Patton Plusczyk

Ingmar Patton Plusczyk honors Marchesa Louisa Casati, a wealthy and extravagant aristocrat who suddenly lost all of her wealth and fled to London where she could be found scrambling through trash, trying to find items to decorate herself with. In his collection, Ingmar combines the very luxurious with the idea of something very cheap, the trash bag. His collection reinforces the idea that self-expression comes from within and has little to do with accumulated wealth.

INGMAR – Credits Image: Ronald Stoops, Model: Luka Van Der Veken.

For more information about KOMONO, please visit www.komono.com

Original link:https://www.opticaljournal.com/komono-x-royal-academy-of-fine-arts-antwerp/