Art Meets Eyewear: Max Mara and Maya Hayuk Optiprism Collaboration

I was recently asked what was my favorite thing about eyewear.  Picture this: there was a moment somewhere in time that a great hero in the optical world decided he or she would make that little wire rimmed pair of glasses they had to wear look different.  They decided to change up the design of their glasses and make them more unique, more personal, more artistic.  In that moment, the idea that has blurred the line of glasses as a medical device versus a fashion accessory was born.  Braces, casts -- other medical devices never made it to true fashion status like eyewear, and our international obsession with glasses as wearable art is continuing to deliver fashion moments that make us perfectly content to be a little imperfect in eyesight and thus needing a new pair, of course.

The Optiprism sunglasses by Max Mara (Safilo) via

Celebrating this glorious marriage of function and fashion in ophthalmics, this year's collaboration between fashion house Max Mara and artist Maya Hayuk was a perfect melding of the minds.  The New York based artist was originally tasked with designing art to be featured on the Italian fashion brand's sunglass packaging, but the colorful patterns she created quickly became inspiration for the sunglasses themselves.  Her work is a reimagination how prisms reflect and bend light (the very concept behind how glasses work). The prismatic pops of color and shapes now appear on a 200 piece limited edition collection, signed by the artist herself!

"Optiprism" by Maya Hayuk via

Originally Hayuk's art was meant for the glasses packaging, but the print inspired Max Mara designers so much they have featured it in a limited edition run of sunglasses as well. via

The artist, Maya Hayuk standing in front of her artwork, "Optiprism" and wearing the Max Mara sunglasses she inspired.  via