Snoop Dogg and Traditionalism

In the late 1970s, through the 1980s, there was a group of young men in Japan who loved American denim. They were aficionados and collectors. As more efficient, and cheaper production methods proliferated worldwide, they felt traditional brands were no longer up to snuff, so they began forming companies to produce their own.

A group of some of the earliest such brands would become known as The Osaka Five: Studio D’Artisan, Warehouse, Evisu, Denime and Full Count. Although their denim and hardware was authentically vintage in quality and appearance, they still released original, though classic, designs. For example, the Full Count 1108 (I own a pair) has the detailing of 1940s or 1950s Levi’s, but the cut is slimmer, more modern.

At this point you’re probably asking: what are jeans doing in an eyewear blog?

When I first started making eyewear, what The Osaka Five had done seemed like a valid model to me. I loved eyewear’s design history and tradition, and had immersed myself in it. I felt a strong affinity for the construction methods and sensibilities of the past. I wanted to animate those elements with new life. That was my goal.

Until, someone asked me for a favor…

I’d been loaning some of my vintage collection to stylists for shoots. I hadn’t produced any product at that point. I was still figuring everything out. One day a stylist I knew came by with a request for a shoot.

The subject was Snoop Dogg. The stylist had a particular vision. He wanted the sunglasses to help project a feeling of danger; of night, and bling, and cocaine laden mirrors, and razor blades.

“I don’t think I have anything like that in my collection.”

“Why don’t you make it?

“Um… O.K.”

“Cool. I’ll be back next Monday to pick it up.”

He left. It then occurred to me I’d never physically made anything before, Plus, my design sensibility was exclusively classic.

What could I use as inspiration? I’d never seen a frame incorporating any of those references, much less all of them. I was on my own.

But by the following Monday, I managed to come up with this:

Face Shield, Moss Lipow, shot by Greg Kadel, styled by Patti Wilson – I did this a while ago – before everybody started putting spikes on everything!

Everybody seemed to agree: it projected a feeling of danger; of night, and bling, and cocaine laden mirrors, and razor blades.

And what was the inspiration? Same as designing any eyeglass frame, or worn object, or anything. You work with visual cues and references to communicate a feeling or message. I just cast my net a bit wider to achieve the stated objective.

Any given day, when someone wakes up and gets dressed, they’re assembling a visual presentation that communicates who they are, or want to be. The job of a designer is to help them do this better. I already had a strong background in the medium’s design history, and had already begun drafting my line. I felt I understood the visual tools needed to make people look smarter, stronger, cooler, in an everyday context.

This was just a matter of taking it a bit further.

The piece was never used on Snoop Dogg. The stylist never came over that Monday. It sat at my place until another stylist came by, saw it, and wanted to use it. The picture here was from the inaugural issue of Vogue China. Waste not, want not.

I wound up doing a lot of editorial type work. I enjoy it. But, reviewing the new collection I just designed, I’m reminded I never really strayed far from the example set by The Osaka Five. At least not in terms of the things I make for everyday wear.

If you want a strong tree, you need deep roots. If anything I do manages to reflect this, I’m happy.
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More blog posts to come.

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