We’re excited to be one of the black owned brands curated by HBO to create a capsule collection in anticipation of the new TV Series Lovecraft Country set to premiere on August 16, 2020, on HBO. The series is produced by Monkeypaw Productions, Bad Robot Productions, and Warner Bros. Television with executive producers including Misha Green, Jordan Peele, J.J. Abrams, and Ben Stephenson starring Jurnee Smollett and Jonathan Majors.
The story is about a young African American man, Atticus Black, who travels across the 1950s segregated United States in search of his missing father. The story, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, explores the congruence between the horror fantasy genre popularized by authors like H.P. Lovecraft, and racism in the United States during the Jim Crow era. Watch the trailer here:
The capsule collection included partner brands Autopilot, Bright Black Candles, BLK MKT Vintage and Amalgam Comics who included the works of Ta-Nehasi Coates’ The Water Dancer, and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone. Along with our signature Aristotle Silver Grey frames & Lovecraft Country branded sustainable cork carrying case, came a hand-written letter:
“Sunglasses alter the way we view the world. Bôhten Eyewear is a company that invites you to envision yourself in the metropolis of modern West Africa. Each of our frames is made from recycled materials sourced from West Africa, and inspired by the beauty of the landscapes found in Ghana. Co Creators Nana Boateng & Nana Kwadwo spent their formative years in the UK, Ghana, and New York, and saw firsthand the impact of culture and travel on how we relate to each other. It’s no surprise that Bôhten represents contrasting identities, shifting cultural paradigms, and challenging the status quo. What can you choose to see differently?
*Historical footnote: to break away from the prevailing European aesthetic, black artists turned to West African cultural models during the Harlem Renaissance beginning in the 1920s. Sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller’s Ethiopia Awakening (1914) featured a black woman in the style of Egyptian Funerary art to establish a new representation of black people, divorced from white caricatures.”
Lovecraft Country premieres this Sunday, Aug 16, 2020 at 9pm EST on HBO/HBO Max (available for US residents only).