Gentle Monster collabs with Google
Why fashion’s most experimental eyewear brand just welcomed big tech to the table
Smart glasses are no longer science fiction. They’re not a gimmick, not a prototype, not something only tech insiders wear at conferences. They’re on faces, in public, and part of real product ecosystems. And the next generation of players is forming fast.
2026 is shaping up to be the year of the smart glasses, and we’re going to be EVERYWEAR to track it all.
In a move that could reshape the future of wearable tech, Google has invested approximately $100 million into Gentle Monster’s parent company, iiCombined, taking an estimated four percent stake.
It’s a strategic alliance that pairs Google’s AI horsepower with one of fashion’s most disruptive eyewear brands which says a lot about what comes next for…. the interface on your face.
Who is Gentle Monster?
Founded in Seoul in 2011 by Hankook Kim, Gentle Monster is not your typical eyewear brand. Its reputation was built on oversized, experimental frames that pushed beyond conventional style and embraced spectacle - quite literally.
The brand is known for its bold, oversized silhouettes that challenge convention while maintaining everyday wearability. Its appeal is global, with a fanbase spanning K-pop royalty, avant-garde art lovers, and fashion insiders alike.
What truly sets Gentle Monster apart is its approach to retail. Each store is an immersive installation which is more gallery than shop. With rotating exhibits, sculptural displays, and surreal theatricality, it’s one of the few fashion brands where the store experience becomes cultural currency. When you walk into Gentle Monster, you’re walking into a vision of what branding can be when it’s treated as art. Sounds very Apple store-esque…
The company also has a track record in tech. In 2019, it collaborated with Huawei to produce smart audio glasses, a quiet early bet that style and circuitry could co-exist. The experiment laid the groundwork for what’s now becoming a much more ambitious partnership.
Why would Google invest?
This clearly isn’t just a financial play. Google’s investment is part of a broader push to bring smart eyewear into the mainstream using its Gemini AI and Android XR platform. But in a way that is cool, yet different and culturally credible.
It’s building an ecosystem that includes Gentle Monster, Warby Parker, and Kering Eyewear - offering consumers everything from fashion-forward to mass-accessible frames, all infused with real-time AI features. The first Gemini-powered glasses are expected in 2026.
What makes Gentle Monster such an ideal partner is its credibility. Google Glass famously failed not because it didn’t work, but because it looked like a sci-fi experiment. Oh and the Scoble in the shower shot.
Gentle Monster solves that problem by making products people actually want to wear. It brings the aesthetic authority, brand heat, and star power that tech companies typically lack. It’s the equivalent to Meta teaming up with EssilorLuxottica. EL reported back in 2022 that they estimate over 500m people wear their glasses around the world.
The cultural reach is equally important. Gentle Monster sits at the intersection of fashion, celebrity, and next-gen luxury. Its stores are ideal launch pads for wearable tech, places where people already expect surprise and spectacle. For Google, it’s not just about product integration. It’s about narrative. And Gentle Monster knows how to build one.
What’s in it for Gentle Monster?
For Gentle Monster, this partnership provides something money alone can’t buy: a direct link to world-class technology infrastructure. Through Google, it gains access to Gemini AI, on-device processing, spatial computing tools, and real-time language translation - all of which elevate the smart eyewear experience from novelty to necessity.
The deal also unlocks global scale. While Gentle Monster has a strong foothold in Asia and a cult following elsewhere, Google offers a pathway to much wider distribution - through Android, YouTube, Pixel, and more. The partnership increases its cultural surface area and opens up new audiences.
More than anything, this move future-proofs the brand. Eyewear is no longer a passive category. It’s becoming active - a user interface you wear. By moving early and aligning with a partner like Google, Gentle Monster positions itself ahead of the curve while many luxury competitors are still treating wearables as fringe.
And of course, the capital helps too. The $100M investment can fuel new concept stores, smart product R&D, and experimental product lines that fuse top design with ambient tech. Crucially, Gentle Monster maintains creative control - this is a minority stake, not a takeover.
What this means for wearables
The battle lines are now clear. Meta has Ray-Ban and EssilorLuxottica. Apple is building vertically through Vision Pro. Google is building sideways, through partnerships that combine utility, distribution, and style. And Snapchat, though earlier to market with Spectacles, continues to quietly iterate in the background, blending AR experimentation with creator culture.
What’s emerging is a new model of smartwear: one where glasses are no longer gadgets, but lifestyle objects. Fashion is no longer a finishing touch. It’s the starting point.
We’re entering an era where retail becomes R&D. Gentle Monster’s theatrical stores double as live labs, perfect for testing lens types, AI features, and use cases in real time. It’s a form of product feedback no smartphone kiosk can deliver.
And perhaps most critically: we’re seeing the rise of the personal interface. Glasses are worn on the face. They’re part of how we’re seen, and how we see. That proximity demands a product that respects style first, functionality second. Gentle Monster understands that intuitively. Google now gets to benefit from that instinct.
The EVERYWEAR view
Wearables are shifting from novelty to necessity. And the ones that will win aren’t just smart - they’re stylish, desirable, and invisible.
Gentle Monster brings fashion’s imagination. Google brings AI’s future. Together, they’re building a new kind of interface - one that you not only wear on your face, but carry in your sense of self, EVERYWEAR.
✴️ If glasses are becoming software, what happens to the rest of what we wear?
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everywear.tech | Signals from the Wearable World