Gentle Monster sticks to bold design for Google AI glasses

FKA Twigs in Gentle Monster's Bouquet collection campaign posters from January / Courtesy of IICombined

Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster is currently designing an upcoming lineup of artificial intelligence (AI)-based smart glasses by Google. But IICombined, the operator of the provocative brand, has one thing it will not compromise in this project: the outrageously creative designs the brand is best known for.

Under the project, Gentle Monster is tasked with product design and branding for the Google smart glasses. The job came after Google last June invested $100 million into IICombined, appointing it as a key design partner for the next-generation AI smart glasses.

Now, Gentle Monster has a clear objective: to create a comfortable, stylish design that is acceptable for daily wearers. To accomplish the task, the firm must carefully take into account the glasses’ intricate hardware modules, including display and sensors, as well as Android XR, the Google software running the device.

Aside from the technical challenges, the brand will need to infuse its unique aesthetic into the design, living up to public expectations of the brand's flamboyant identity. Many of its styles feature eye-catching design and the use of unique materials. Its stores are reminiscent of a gallery, decorated with abstract sculptures and psychedelic digital signage.

With the project currently in its initial phase, Gentle Monster is now focusing on concept design, prototype development and user testing.

Shahram Izadi, vice president of Google Android XR, delivers a keynote speech during Google I/O 2025, May 20, 2025. Courtesy of IICombined

“The AI smart glasses aren't simply a tech prop to wear. They are something wearers will naturally have to accept as their own style. The glasses will demonstrate our philosophy that pivots on both aesthetics and practicality. The latter requires us to optimize qualities like fitness and weight for wearers,” an IICombined official said. The company name’s two Is represent imagination and interpretation.

“Gentle Monster’s motto is to create products that don't fail to make everyone's jaws drop. The brand's offline stores represent our ‘luxury experimentation’ that, beyond serving as a retail store, allow visitors to experience our motto with the installed arts. The upcoming Google smart glasses will likewise allow wearers to experience not just seeing, but also being seen.”

The Google smart glasses also mark a new market shift for Gentle Monster, advancing the brand from a simple eyewear label into the lifestyle tech category.

“We cannot disclose at this point our future cooperation plan with Google in detail due to confidentiality. But this is certain: We’ll start proposing a new category of products that combine technologies, emotion and art,” the official said.

Gentle Monster’s partnership with Google comes with the brand’s prominence in the global eyewear market. Since its establishment in 2011, the brand has expanded its market to 16 countries, including stores in London, Soho in New York City, le Marais in Paris and shopping mall 10 Corso Como in Milan — the four trendiest fashion cities in the world.

A Gentle Monster store inside 10 Corso Como in Milan in January / Courtesy of IICombined

The stores showcase the brand’s outspoken worldview and feature decor that delicately mixes objects, light, sound and movement. Some media outlets outside Korea have compared the stores to contemporary art galleries, according to IICombined.

“For us, glasses are not just a product out of practical needs. We try to transcend it as a medium for experiencing art and culture,” the official said.

The brand has grown to contribute 40 percent of IICombined’s total sales from three overseas subsidiaries based in the United States, China and the United Kingdom. To increase its global market shares, the company launched global promotional campaigns that were as catchy as the glasses themselves.

Featured models in the campaigns included global celebrities like K-pop stars Jennie from BLACKPINK, Karina from aespa, singer-songwriter FKA Twigs and actor Tilda Swinton. Thirty-three models have represented Gentle Monster so far, both posing for the brand and participating in product design and ad production.

To live up to its creative worldview that often blurs the line between reality and fantasy, the company also collaborated with video games like World of Warcraft and Tekken 8 for Gentle Monster campaigns.

“What has sustained us in the global market and allowed Gentle Monster to become a global brand was our unparalleled brand identity. We’re now moving beyond fashion, venturing into uncharted industries,” the official said.