DITTO THROUGH A LENS: German eyewear brand Mykita has proven to be the perfect fit for Gossip front-woman Beth Ditto. Ever on the search for the ideal pair of sunglasses to suit her iconoclastic style, Ditto found a way to make her dream shades a reality with the innovative Berlin-based brand.
The “Beth” glasses, based on the singer’s ideas and sketch, are a pointy, oversized cat-eye made from lightweight stainless steel just 0.5 millimeters thick, accentuated with delicate cut-outs, and customized to fit its namesake’s face. The specs feature violet gradient lenses set in frames of vivid purple — Ditto’s favorite tone, and in white. Both versions are limited edition — 100 individually numbered pairs of per color are being produced. “Well, I have a huge head, so these glasses are enormous! And my favorite color is purple! So I knew that even if no one else wore them, at least I’d have the shades of my dreams for the rest of my life,” said Ditto.
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“We’re huge fans of her as a colorful personality and of course her music,” commented Mykita marketing and public relations director Xenia Deger. “She was the first rock star to knock on our doors to ask to collaborate on a frame — how could we say no?”
Mykita is no stranger to collaborations. The nine-year old firm previously joined forces with designers Alexander Herchcovitch, Kostas Murkudis. Marios Schwab and Bernhard Willhelm, worked with artist Agathe Snow, and created high-tech, high-performance ski-to-street glasses with Moncler. The Mykita by Beth Ditto project, classified as a ‘special edition’ by the brand, will launch globally in Mykita shops, select opticians, and concept stores including Colette in Paris, Liberty London, and Tsum in Moscow at the end of September. Priced at 299 euros, or $369 at current exchange, the frame will also be available online at thecorner.com.
Next up for Mykita is an eyewear line for designer Damir Doma, and other cooperative undertakings are in progress for the Fall. Such joint projects do bring a bit more visibility to the brand, says Mykita’s Deger, but that’s not their main goal. “We consider such projects as our ‘playground,’ free from commercial restrictions — so for us it’s fun!“ she insists. “The collaboration partners bring fresh ideas and tend to have a new approach and outlook on things, as they are not eyewear designers.” What’s vital, she says, is to create something truly new.