T(w)ogether - the creative alliances and collaborations in eyewear, June 2026

Trends

T(w)ogether

Creative Alliances

Words Alessandra Albarello

08/06/2026

Designing together has become the winning formula for attracting and engaging new consumers. Between art and design, discovering unexpected scenarios

What do we need? What are we really looking for? These are questions we often ask ourselves when choosing an object, a garment or an accessory. Yet there is no need to venture into philosophical, psychological or existential territory to find the answer. Put simply, we want something that reflects who we are, and we choose it according to highly personal criteria shaped by our lifestyle and tastes, themselves the result of sensibilities, knowledge and experiences accumulated over time. Whether it is a piece of clothing or a piece of furniture, the underlying principle remains the same. This is why eyewear, too, must continually tell new stories with which people can identify.

During the recent Milan Design Week, we witnessed a number of compelling collaborations, including the partnership between Persol and Cassina. The two iconic brands came together through Patricia Urquiola, the internationally renowned designer and Cassina’s Art Director, resulting in a limited-edition frame inspired by designs held in the company’s archive in Meda. As a further symbol of the meeting of two parallel histories rooted in craftsmanship and savoir-faire, the blue-gradient version, limited to 500 individually numbered pieces, comes with an exclusive seal-inspired valet tray made from a recycled material combining leather fragments from Cassina’s production processes and small pieces of Persol acetate, with the addition of a cement compound consisting of 90% aggregate minerals recovered from quarry waste. The case, meanwhile, takes its cue from the archive folders preserved by Cassina.

A completely different, decidedly pop approach characterises the Seletti x Okkia capsule collection, born from the encounter between Okkia and the irreverent homeware brand renowned for its collaborations with Toiletpaper. The five styles were previewed in January at Pitti Uomo in Florence in a particularly original setting: the historic Mattei biscuit factory. The venue was no coincidence, as the textures and finishes of frames such as Dakota recall the irregular impressions left in dough during the biscuit-making process.

Seletti x Okkia, Dakota model

Morel & Constance Guisset, Esperluette model

Kuboraum x Hamburger Bahnhof, Mask H15 model

Javier Rey x Kaleos, Castillo model

Ale Giorgini x Jacques Durand, Vicenza 361 model

Persol and Cassina, PO3401S model

At Fuorisalone, Punto Ottico Humaneyes presented Ale Giorgini x Jacques Durand, a project born from the collaboration between the acclaimed illustrator and the brand produced by JDO Eyewear. A single frame design has been developed in four variations, each dedicated to a city closely associated with Jacques Durand: Vicenza, Milan, New York and Tokyo. The journey through the brand’s history and evolution is expressed through a clean, understated front, contrasted by a colourful interior featuring Ale Giorgini’s illustrations. Each variation is available in a limited edition of 100 pieces. French designer Constance Guisset, who also took part in the Fuorisalone project Doppia Firma, created the Morel & Constance Guisset collection for Morel. Inspired by calligraphic gestures, the line includes the Esperluette frame, named after the French term for the ampersand.

Designers are not the only creative partners with whom companies forge meaningful connections to communicate authentic and distinctive messages. Kaleos, for example, enlisted Spanish actor Javier Rey to present its Variations collection through a performance exercise exploring the power of intention, the meanings revealed through gesture and the intensity of the gaze. The collection features three styles available in five colours and fitted with photochromic lenses, including Castillo.

Some projects even extend to collaborations with museums. One such example is Silhouette, featured in the opening image, which has entered into a three-year sponsorship partnership with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The connection is rooted in a shared vision and, above all, a common material: titanium. Designed by renowned architect Frank O. Gehry, the museum is entirely clad in titanium panels, a material that Silhouette has used since 1990 for some of its most iconic frames.

From Bilbao we move to Berlin and Hamburger Bahnhof, the city’s National Gallery of Contemporary Art, where one of the industry’s most forward-thinking brands, Kuboraum, has created the Kuboraum x Hamburger Bahnhof capsule collection. Among the standout pieces is the Mask H15, a rectangular metal frame featuring two overlapping metal silhouettes joined by exposed screws. Contemporary visions that go beyond a simple glance.