June 1, 2017
Fashion

Model: Tierra Monét Lee. Casting by Trevor Swain.

MYKITA TEAMS UP WITH TIM COPPENS

The collaboration between Berlin-based eyewear brand MYKITA and Tim Coppens, the sporty menswear designer and creative director of Under Armour, was simple and uncomplicated. “It was easy because they’re super experienced and they know what they’re talking about,” Coppens says.

Together, the MYKITA team and Coppens created the TEQUILA sunglasses, which they describe as “a highly wearable piece of eyewear futurism.” But despite the style’s futuristic look, Coppens referenced the classics. “I wanted to design something that can be worn and is not just a fashion piece,” Coppens explains.

For inspiration, the designer combined his interest in Nineties dirt bike goggles and classic aviators when designing the frames, keeping in line with his own Fall 2017 collection. “The Fall 2017 collection was a story about travel and going certain places,” he says. “There were very loose motorcycle references here and there and aviator references because I think those are very classic men’s style. I like taking classic pieces and tweaking them.”

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The construction of the TEQUILA frames demonstrates the team’s thoughtful and progressive design approach. Available in five colors, they are made of MYKITA’s signature MYLON, a lightweight material that can be used to create structures—or in this case, sunglass frames—using a three-dimensional printing technology called selective laser sintering. The lenses are also cut in a way that changes their reflection while wearing when viewed by others from different angles.

The sunglasses debuted at Coppens’s show during Pitti Uomo in Florence last January, a bittersweet experience for the New York-based, Belgian-born designer. “I’m part of a new generation of immigrants that is trying to connect those two worlds a little bit,” Coppens explains. “I’m not an American designer, I’m not a European designer—it is a mixture.”

The TEQUILA frames are now available in MYKITA stores and at MYKITA.com.

By: Alexandra Sarabia
Photography by: Robert Lindholm

Model: Tierra Monét Lee. Casting by Trevor Swain.

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