ill.i is pleased to announce its latest collaboration, with contemporary artist Xu Zhen (MadeIn Company). For the past decade, Xu’s provocative art has commented on the breakneck cultural change in China and worldwide. Will.i.am is a multi-disciplinary, blank-canvas approach to eyewear design. For this project, Xu Zhen and ill.i undertook a three-staged artistic process resulting in a singular, limited-edition series of eyeglasses to be released in limited quantities worldwide in November 2015.
This alchemical collaboration between two icons of their respective fields responds to a moment of unprecedented conversation among contemporary art, pop culture, fashion and commerce, in which creativity is the common denominator. “Everything needs creativity. Creativity gathers culture, business, and many other things into one entity,” says Xu Zhen.
For the collaboration, Xu Zhen’s “Turbulent” (2013) series was reimagined into different forms, including a woman’s dress designed by iLL.i, and eyewear, in which the pattern is embedded within custom XZ acetate frames. One men’s style and one women’s style will be released in an extremely limited edition of 100 pairs each, all with custom packaging designed by the artist. In addition to the commercial run, a single sculpture will be released, for which the artist took a pair of glasses and replaced each lens with gritty, hand-carved stone.
Themes from the painting synthesized onto a dress
ill.i x Xu Zhen frames for women, ed. 1/100
ill.i x Xu Zhen frames for men, ed. 1/100
Xu Zhen sculpture, inspired by ill.i frames
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