When we speak about eyewear and video games, many iconic characters and their frames come to mind. From Lightning’s liquid metal bolt glasses in Final Fantasy to the floating steampunk specs of Adam Jensen in Deus Ex - these avant garde adaptations embrace the fantasy worlds they exist in. In the “real world, eyewear brands tend to play it a bit safer. Perennial bestsellers like the Ray-Ban Wayfarer or the Persol 714 allow wearers to blend in rather than standing out. Gentle Monster is perhaps the best exception to this rule.

The South Korean name crafts conceptual frames rooted in philosophies of art, culture redesign and pioneering technology. Most eyewear brands recruit technology as an invisible feature, embedded within the subtleties of the frame. But Gentle Monster embraces technology in both function and form. Technology isn’t just an experience for the wearer, but equally for the onlooker, experienced through the distinct aesthetics of the overt acetate.

When it comes to art and culture redesign, one might not typically think of video games. But South Korean artists like Hankook Kim, founder of Gentle Monster, certainly do. In fact, South Korea is the fourth biggest video game market in the world, which is sizeable considering it’s only a population size of just 51 million (compared to China, US and Japan, the three markets above it). The types of products we see from Gentle Monster feel like some futuristic curio pulled directly out of the console, and 3D printed in a pixel perfect render.

Gentle Monster has also made contributions to the gaming world that go beyond the static collabs that other fashion tie-ups too often fall victim to. For instance, their World Of Warcraft (WoW) sunglasses were inspired by Illidan`s green, fiery eyes. Illidan is known in the game as the betrayer due to the acts against his own kind. It seems fitting then that the design betrays the conventional eyewear template with its intricate frame, accentuated by unique silver metal temples and green lenses. The partnership honoured WoW’s particular popularity in Korea (at one point, there was even a local WoW-themed cooking show). Gentle Monster did something very simple yet effective that many collaborations fail to achieve. They took an existing concept and gave it a new access point. They took Illidan’s green eyes from the virtual world and made them physical, something that wouldn’t be possible if either brand didn’t link up. A simple, yet far more inspiring outcome than the logo mashups that most collabs end up being in the fashion space.

The Overwatch 2 and Tekken 8 collaborations take things a step further. For the Overwatch 2 collaboration, the Tokki WP glasses recreate an iconic character’s (D.Va) signature headgear with Gentle Monster's unique style, inspired by the character’s mobility robot (Tokki). Instead of releasing this publicly, Gentle Monster engaged its fans in a filter challenge. In the challenge, the community was invited to superimpose D.Va’s head on to theirs and record an eye-catching video. The response saw boxers, musicians, race drivers and many others respond with truly novel videos, expanding the lore of the video game and the Tokki WP’s into unexpected spaces. In a self prophesying sort of way, the collaboration became a game itself.

Tekken 8 x Gentle Monster pushes the needle even further. Beyond just creating an Inferno pair of glasses inspired by Tekken’s most iconic character (and his revered devil horns), Devil Kazuya, Gentle Monster also delivered them in a special package made after his gloves. Scaled to the size of Kazuya’s hand, the glove swims on the human hand, making a noise every time it makes contact with something, emulating the in-game experience of combat. Furthermore,Gentle Monster has made in-store AI filters (seemingly inspired by the success of the PS2 filter on Tik Tok) for visitors to render themselves into Tekken 8 characters. The enthralling dialogue between game and real life deepens these collaborations beyond just passe products designed for a quick buck. They underscore Gentle Monster’s artistic relationship with technology.

Beyond products themselves, Gentle Monster famously hosts unorthodox experiences that expand the allure of their brand. From a rotating roster of futuristic in-store installations to scavenger hunt style hidden exhibitions, the brand plays its own games of sorts. But when it actually comes to gaming, they do their best work. For their recent collaboration with Jennie from BLACKPINK, Gentle Monster made a cozy style game called Jentle Garden. Mimicking the likes of a Stardew Valley, the game went beyond a “one and done” experience that a lot of fashion video game activations typically are. Instead, it encouraged players to play for one month, where the top 10 players were selected every week to receive a prize containing five‘Jentle Garden’ eyewear pieces. The same went for their collaboration with artist KUN, where the community could download and play a secret agent inspired game, with the top players receiving a special product package. The Gentle Monster gaming universe knows no end.

In an internal gaming report Drawn Distant conducted in 2021 on the “it item” for esports, we asked our audience what they thought would crossover from esports culture into mainstream style, much like the football kit and the baseball cap. Unsurprisingly, the item with the most real world function came out on top...gaming glasses. Gaming glasses are worn by esports athletes to combat blue light strain from screens. They were unanimously agreed to have the highest potential in crossing over into the fashion space. With capabilities in game-like eyewear design, blue light lens technology and actual game experiences, as true visionaries in the gaming space, Gentle Monster might be seeing something that most fashion brands of the world aren’t.

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This article is a partnership between Sabukaru and Drawn Distant - a gaming and style publication by James Davis. Subscribe here for more.