Blake Kuwahara
Blake Kuwahara is a L.A. designer who in recent years, has been making a name for himself. With an illustrious background in optical design, combining a doctorate in optometry with years of working with top names such as Coach and Converse to Carolina Herrera and Hanae Mori, he branched out independently in 2015.
His creations have been worn by the likes of Brad Pitt, Catherine-Zeta Jones, Will Smith, Halle Berry and even Slash. It’s clear why his designs have been such a success; they are beautiful. His glasses are not just for celebrities, they are for anyone that appreciates an artisanal approach and clean, Zen-like architecture.
It’s hard to imagine the number of processes undertaken to reach the final product. The engineering involved in the lamination, and the sculpting and milling is an artform in itself.
Each frame is meticulously hand-cast and then crafted with a level of workmanship often lost in the pursuit of efficiency and mass production. Blake’s aim and ethos is to create eyewear that is “artful yet wearable”, which has kept the designs and outcomes both grounded and vivid.