Antwerp is a creative force for emerging young designers. The city is home to avant-garde theo eyewear, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The lure of Antwerp and its stylish impact convinced German born Vincent Thürstein that The Royal Academy Fashion Department was where he wanted to study. Curiosity about a tribe in the Indian Ocean living apart from outer civilisation, sparked Vincent’s concept for his catwalk collection – Mokushiroku (above image) which in Japanese means apocalypse. In a reimagined post-apocalyptic civilisation, people will be just as prone to need eyewear as we are. Vincent knocked on theo’s door, Serge Bracké responded, and a dynamic collaboration was formed.
Vincent used inspirations from Japanese fisherman, Korean female divers, Rodchenko sculptures, Marcel Breuer and other sources to create his binoculars that bear a similarity to fishermen’s diving goggles. “I wanted to combine natural materials such as horn with metal components for the constructional elements,” said Vincent, “And Serge and I worked on the oxidation processes of the frame surface in the same way as I experimented with fabrics in my collection.”
When Vincent’s fashion silhouettes appeared on the catwalk, the smart details on the outfits and the softly muted but pleasing colour palette gave a reassuring glow. Theo x Vincent eyewear added the finishing touch to Mokushiroku. For more trailblazing eyewear designs visit www.theo.be JG