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’s students in the creation of a pair of sunglasses linked to the student’s 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 Karolina Widecka
Investigating the duality between a fragile appearance and an extreme shape, Karolina Widecka proposes a capsule drenched in superstition and symbolism. Inspired by ex-votos and Mexican religious art, the glasses function as a token of protection for their wearer with its ‘broken glass’ upper bar.
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.
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.