Gentle Monster celebrates its 10th birthday with Marine Serre

Since George Eastman invented the camera in 1888, humankind has consistently depended on photography to immortalise life’s defining moments—its ability to suspend these moments in stasis has also resulted in a capacity to illustrate evolution over time. We tend to indulge in moments of photographic retrospect around birthdays and anniversaries. In light of Gentle Monster turning ten this year, now feels as apt a moment as any, to look back on a decade’s worth of uncompromisingly expressive imagery through their lenses.

The brand has proven to have a consistent knack for subverting its viewers’ perceptions of both eyewear as well as the imagery that accompanies it, carving a hyper-futuristic lane that it can comfortably call its own. To celebrate its first decade, Gentle Monster has unveiled their latest collaboration with Marine Serre—resulting in two designs that nod to the guilty-pleasure glamour era of 2000s eyewear. The autonomous-sounding, VISIONIZER II, incorporates a curved acetate frame that holds up boldly contrasting lenses for a signature Futurewear look. Alongside the VISIONIZER II is the VISIONIZER I, which in much the same vein as its counterpart, embraces a futuristic, sport-driven aesthetic through an aerodynamically-shaped build, complimenting the classic goggle design.

The prevalence of collaboration within today’s fashion industry can often trigger a tendency to overlook the practical design difficulties associated with marrying more than one design language together. Many collaborations whilst initially garnering hype, retweets, story shares and more, fall into the bottomless abyss of social media timelines and become distant memories as rapidly as they ascended the algorithms of our feeds initially. Where Gentle Monster seems to have bucked this apparent eventuality, is in their commitment to pushing every chapter of their work, as part of their wider, (pun-very-much-intended) vision.

The brand isn’t looking to simply push products with another logo alongside their own. Their collaboration with Fendi represents one of many moments over the last ten years, where conscious design effort to marry two design languages is visible. In a project realised by AES+F, Gentle Monster and Fendi found common ground in both the colour palettes and silhouettes used, before proceeding to tap into Gentle Monster’s trademark pocket of Futurewear. It should also be noted that Fendi’s motto of pursuing “creativity, fun and craftsmanship”, is a modus operandi that converges with Gentle Monster’s output. Part of their flair for executing collaborations successfully is in the suitable selection of collaborators. A point that may be argued obvious, but if so obvious, why do so many fail to do so effectively?

It should also come as no surprise that a design team that places emphasis on enhancing visual experiences are also able to cultivate campaign imagery to similar effect. The brand’s 2021 Main Line campaign incorporated the lockdown-friendly motif of a greenscreen background, bathing the models in a hyperreal green that tickles the eyes. As we’ve seen over the last year, brands have struggled to avoid referencing COVID-induced changes to reality without appearing gimmicky. However, as their 2021 Main Line campaign attests to, the brand possesses an ability to stay thematically in line with their Futurewear-driven ethos whilst also incorporating a wider context—championing subtlety, over attention-grabbing antics.

Finally, and for all intents and purposes, most importantly, their designs are resolute in establishing a specific new context for eyewear, as well as its wearer. Perhaps most overtly exhibited by their ‘Once Upon A Future’ collection shot by Alessio Bolzoni, is the brand’s ability to let their designs themselves do the talking, if they so choose. In a paired-down campaign, the models wear otherworldly shades that one can’t help but be fixated upon. Perhaps Gentle Monster’s greatest success, over the last decade, is in the reality that envisioning a future without them is now looking neigh-on impossible.

Marine Serre X Gentle Monster launches on 9 February 2021 available from MarineSerre.com, GentleMonster.com, Gentle Monster’s global offline stores and selected retailers.