Humans only have two eyes. If you’re reading this, you know that, but when talking about Issey Miyake’s new “UROKO” sunglasses, it’s an important point to make. 

ISSEY MIYAKE EYES, the Japanese label’s eyewear subsidiary, created the UROKO glasses for IM MEN, a different sub-line founded in 2021 focused on menswear. This is just two of the many splinter brands within Miyake’s sprawling fashion empire, and they’ve combined to create a truly novel piece of eyewear.

While most glasses have two lenses catering to the wearer's two eyes, the UROKO has eight lenses lined up along a textured black 3D-printed frame that reach right around to the wearer’s temples where they are functionally useless. 

It’ll take millions of years of evolution before humans could ever have eyes on the side of their heads but if they ever do, the UROKO shades are ready. 

The futuristic design is actually inspired by the here and now, as the UROKO sunglasses get their shape from the fluid lines of pottery created by ceramic artist Shoji Kamoda, well-loved across Japan for his disparate, hard-to-categorize creations that pushed the medium’s boundaries. Some of Kamoda’s scalier decorations inform the ridged shape of the glasses’ many lenses. 

ISSEY MIYAKE EYES, launched in 2015 as a collaboration between MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO (yet another sub-line) and Japanese eyewear manufacturer Kaneko Optical, has always pushed the boundaries of eyewear.

Its most recent release was the GRIT glasses, which through advanced 3D-printing technology have the feel of being built from black sand. Previously, it created “wooden” glasses hand-carved by artisans and ultra-sleek frames where a metal bar cuts through the lenses. 

Still, even by ISSEY MIYAKE EYES’ own inventive standards, the UROKO is entirely in its own world.

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