TANAKA EYEWEAR
Single-author frames in compressed paper composite. Made start to finish by one maker in East London.
Forty-eight commissions a year.
Viewings Sundays 3–6pm and Thursdays 4–7pm
Made once. Finished by time.
Single-author eyewear by Gow Tanaka, Japan-born designer-maker based in London.
Compressed paper composite.
Face-framing geometry.
One maker from first cut to final fitting.
Time continues the work.
Winner, Heritage & Craft, Surface Design Awards 2026, for Patina as Performance.
Release 01
The first TANAKA language.
Type-I, Patina and Black Archive
A round lens held beneath a straight upper line.
Type-RO, Patina and Black Archive
A firmer contour drawn toward the cheekbone.
Japan‑born, London‑based
From face to frame
Gow Tanaka cut hair for the first time in 1993, in a salon in Osaka. That work came before the first frame. That eye now enters eyewear.
“I want my work to get better with age. I hope I do too.”