Double
Double
VISION
VISION
ICONIC EYEWEAR FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE AND BE SEEN
FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHO
ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU
DO?
My name is Blake Kuwahara,
and I’m an eyewear designer.
THERE IS A STRIKING
DUALITY TO YOUR FRAMES.
FROM AFAR THEY APPEAR
TO HAVE A CLASSIC
SILHOUETTE, THEN UP
CLOSE THEY ARE TOTALLY
BADASS. WHERE DID YOU
DRAW INSPIRATION FOR THIS
CONCEPT?
29
I was trying to bring this dual
sense of design into one frame.
To design, as you put it, a little
badass attitude to the frames
but also have frames that are
approachable and wearable. I
was shopping one day, and I
saw this antique wooden stool
encased in a crystal lucite block,
and I thought "what a brilliant
way to combine two different
aesthetics into one unit." The
challenge was “how would I
do that” with eyewear. The
process we developed was to
literally make two separate
frames and laminate them
The Edge
together. The inside silhouette
tends to be very wearable, very
approachable; while the outside
silhouette, which is a little bit
more crystalline, is only seen as
you get closer. From far away
it looks like you’re wearing
something very familiar but
when you get up close…
IF THE EYES ARE THE WINDOW
TO THE SOUL, WHAT DOES
YOUR EYEWEAR SAY ABOUT
YOU?
I’d like to think it says I’m
discriminating; I have a sense of
S y l va n u s - U r b a n . c o m