What If Military Sunglasses Were Midcentury Modern? (EXCLUSIVE)
Part of the beauty of midcentury modern furniture is that its unpretentious forms were designed with practicality in mind. These items only ended up being design objects because their design was shaped by utility; form follows function and all that.
Inspired midcentury objects' enduring appeal, OAMC and Mykita created sunglasses as versatile as they are beautiful. These things may be military-coded but they're ideal for all aspects of civilian life, whatever and whenever. More than that, they're works of eyewear art, the incredible ingenuity of their design humbly hidden behind a handsome facade.
"Our visual reference was midcentury design and objects with a very practical mindset. We went on the path of translating that utilitarian language into something contemporary, using Mykita engineering and materials," Mykita cofounder Moritz Krueger tells Highsnobiety. "For me, OAMC stands for functionality, precision, and pieces you want to wear every day because they feel right. That’s the common ground we found immediately – how we think about materials, construction, and longevity."
Mykita's shades are the very definition of German engineering, with each model produced by hand in the eyewear company's German factory to extreme standards of bespoke materials. So it goes for these pairs crafted for military-inspired OAMC, whose signature product is a vintage military liner jacket reborn in the name of peace.
The OAMC x Mykita glasses are defined by a unique "hybrid" construction. "For reasons both aesthetic and functional, we decided on a hybrid construction – a stainless-steel frame ‘skeleton‘ with [3D-printed] MYLON inserts – as the CR-39 flat base-two lenses from ZEISS can’t be mounted directly into metal," Krueger explains. Subtle side shields help cut down reflections, something that only the wearer will likely appreciate.
Both eyewear styles are named in line with army jargon — "RAT" and "GRUNT" — and wear shapes that ought to feel familiar to anyone schooled in classic sunglass styles — after all, much of today's modern sunglasses can trace their roots to the tinted lenses originally created for military pilots (aviator shades' namesake). But rather than merely reference established styles, OAMC and Mykita created something entirely fresh.
"Every collaboration is a bilateral process – both sides bring different ingredients," Krueger says. "In this case, our common ground naturally guided us toward a truly archetypal, straightforward design, where form derives from functional elements: the flat lenses, the hybrid construction, the side flaps. Authentic, purposeful, and entirely modern."
Much like the midcentury designs that inspired them, the collaborative glasses — available now from OAMC and Mykita's websites — are marked by a classic feel despite their advanced influences and make.
That is the genius of the midcentury stuff, after all: despite being the product of much exhaustive effort, it all feels so perfectly simple. You put it in your house. You sit on it. You eat on it. You live it it. It becomes second nature, an old friend you'd miss if it were gone. Such is the aim of OAMC's Mykita shades.
"The challenge is always to make this all feel effortless yet precise," Krueger says. "But that’s exactly what we love doing,"
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit HS Shopping for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
