The Kokoro collection by Oakley, a luxury sportswear brand from the Luxottica Group, is a playground of colours. Designed to represent the endless passion of athletes around the world, artist Meguru Yamaguchi’s vivid brushstrokes are the secret behind each stunning eyewear in this collection.
Kokoros eyewear frame dispalying the bright paint splashes
Kokoro’s eyewear frame displaying the bright paint splashes
The pandemic has pushed the world into viewing a lot of things as black and white. However, Oakley used this time to unite the world through the power of art and colours. To bring this idea to life, the California-based brand collaborated with the Brooklyn-based Japanese artist Yamaguchi.
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Brooklyn based Japanese artist Meguru Yamaguchi
Brooklyn-based Japanese artist Meguru Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi’s meeting with Oakley’s Athlete team and the creative designers inspired him deeply and pushed him to imagine eyewear in a different light, one that is unique and artsy; all thanks to his fascinating paintbrush strokes.
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Using his specialised style of combining art, gesture and form; Yamaguchi created sunglasses that look like perfect pieces of modern art.
RadarĀ® EV PathĀ® -Kokoro Collection
RadarĀ® EV PathĀ® from the Kokoro Collection
EVZeroā„¢ Blades Kokoro Collection
EVZeroā„¢ Blades from the Kokoro Collection
The Kokoro collection features FlakĀ® 2.0 XL, RadarĀ® EV PathĀ®, Sutro, FrogskinsĀ®, EVZeroā„¢Blades, Flight Jacket and Jawbreakerā„¢.
The sunglasses are equipped with Oakleyā€™s Prizmā„¢ Lens Technology, which enhances colour and contrast for the athletes to see things in greater detail.
AirbrakeĀ® MTB Kokoro Collection
AirbrakeĀ® MTB from the Kokoro Collection

What’s interesting is that a special spin technique was used to precisely mimic Yamaguchiā€™s dramatic brushstrokes on to the eyewear frames. For this, the engineering team at Oakley, custom made a machine. Watch the video below to understand how it’s done.

 

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For Yamaguchi, this exclusive collaboration with Oakley was the need of the hour; to embody the beauty of humanity and inspire a sense of camaraderie among the athletes of all abilities, through one medium ā€” art. In Japanese, ā€˜Kokoroā€™ means ā€˜heart, mind and spiritā€™, which is exactly what the artist has attempted to showcase ā€” a unified, enduring love for sports.
Caroline Buchanan
Caroline Buchanan has won world championships in BMX and mountain biking
Nigel Sylvester is an American professional BMX athlete
Nigel Sylvester is an American professional BMX athlete
ā€œWhen I connected with the athletes as part of the discovery phase, I was moved by their united passion for sports. Designing a collection that was emblematic of this shared passion was core to my process and Iā€™m thrilled with the results,ā€ said Meguru Yamaguchi.
Celebrating the launch, Oakley will also donate an amount of $200,000 to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization.