Coco and Breezy own the distinction of “local girls-gone-good.” Born Corianna and Brianna Dotson in Apple Valley, Minnesota, the identical twins were fixtures of the local fashion scene as models and designers until they made the move to New York City in 2012 at the fresh-faced age of 19–but not before launching their debut line of bold, studded sunglasses. Since then, the twins have garnered major press in Nylon, WWD, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, you name it, as well as celebrity clients including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and Kelly Osbourne, plus a forthcoming collaboration with online retail giant Amazon, launching at the end of November.
Their latest achievement: A commission to design a pair of sunglasses for hometown hero Prince. Dubbed the “3rd Eye” sunglasses, the eyewear features a third lens, in a nod to Prince’s band 3rdeyegirl. I asked Coco my burning questions about the shades:
Q: How did you end up creating the sunglasses for Prince? Did you reach out to him?
A: Prince’s team actually reached out to us in July and invited us to the Essence Music Festival. Prince found out about our hidden dance talent, so we actually ended up performing and dancing to one song with him and his band.
Q: How did you come up with the design? Did you already have it in mind when you pitched it to Prince?
A: This unique design originated as a digital drawing on his album cover Art Official Age. We turned that digital art into a reality.
Screencap of Prince performing on Saturday Night Live in the “3rd Eye” sunglasses
Q: Did you know they would end up being worn for his SNL appearance?
A: It was funny because we actually didn’t know that he was going wear them on SNL. Prince invited us to the SNL show, so Breezy and I were anticipating and nervous the whole show until he got on stage. Then Breezy started crying of excitement that he was rocking the sunglasses.
Q: How did you react when you found out that you’d be designing the glasses for Prince?
A: We felt very honored–we grew up only a few minutes away from Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Q: Do you plan to offer the “3rd eye” sunglasses for sale?
A: Yes, we will keep you all updated on when we will release the pre-order date!
Follow Coco & Breezy on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for updates on the “3rd Eye” sunglasses launch.
