Karen Walker launches men's eyewear collection with Connan Mockasin

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jun 6, 2017

Karen Walker this month launched Monumental, the New Zealand-based designer’s first men’s eyewear collection.
 

The new collection, which is made in partnership with musician Connan Mockasin, consists of five eyewear styles that boast sculptural shapes that twist the timeless silhouettes and compliments Karen Walker’s eyewear.
 
Each style, Pablo, Voltaire, Julius, Hemingway and Buzz, is available in four colors and features polarized or classic lens colors, as well as clear, black horn, and tortoiseshell acetate.

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"It was exciting this time to shift the focus entirely to men," said Walker. "It just felt like the right time to reassess the concept of modern masculinity. When we talk about what it is to be a man now, it's such a fluid concept. And yet, there's also this wonderful permanence. We wanted to capture that. To be subversive and classic at the same time."
 
Walker, who operates a women’s ready-to-wear collection and namesake jewelry, eyewear, paint and home goods collections, sought out Mockasin to launch the collection. She told Vogue, “When we thought of the men we would turn into monuments, Connan was at the top of the list . . . What I like about Connan’s style—his music, his ideas, his concepts, his own look—is that he doesn’t just run with the pack and run with the trends. He’s a modern icon, and he’s actually better than an icon.”
 
Mockasin discovered that music is his passion when he heard Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies’ at a young age. He learned how to play the entire album on guitar with help from his parents’ copy of the album. The Los Angeles-based musician has worked with artists such as James Blake, Mac DeMarco, Vince Staples, Dev Hynes and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and he is currently finishing a five-part dramatic series called 'Bostyn 'n Dobsyn' to accompany the release of his third solo album.
 
Monumental is available now on the Karen Walker website.