The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2020 - Issue 27

Using his ‘frame-within-a-frame’ construction concept, designer Blake Kuwahara fascinates Jada Brookes with his intriguing collection of architectural and iconic eyewear. bite accessories A I n a world where some accessories are not always exactly how you would like them, sometimes you have to take steps to change that. Blake Kuwahara, founder and creative director of Focus Group West (FGW), a Los Angeles-based, multi-disciplinary boutique de- sign firm that takes a comprehensive approach to branding and designing for eyewear and fashion companies, decided to make use of his creative skills and start his namesake eyewear brand in 2014. A graduate with a doctorate in optometry from UC Berkeley, Blake’s skills were first rec- ognised when he created and designed the exclusive KATA Eyewear brand. His ground- breaking use of engineering and production techniques to create texture and detail for the brand reinvented the way eyewear design is approached today. To date, he has designed eyewear for Coach, Converse, Rock & Repub- lic as well as designers Carolina Herrera, Isaac Mizrahi, Behnaz Sarafpour and John Varvatos. Thanks to his bold experimentation and inno- vation, Blake has gained a huge following in the fashion media as well as being a celebrity favourite for Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Cathe- rine Zeta-Jones, Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Will Smith, Samuel L. Jackson, and Charl- ize Theron who have all worn his designs. His accolades include ‘Best of Category in Con- sumer Goods’ from i-D magazine and ‘Silmo d’Or - Prix Special Journaliste de Mode’ from a panel of French fashion journalists. The eyewear designer has been profiled in publications such as Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, In Style, and Esquire and has appeared on E!, Access Hollywood, MTV, and CNN. Buzz magazine voted him one of the “100 Coolest People in Los Angeles" and