LISA Doesn't Have to Choose

A decade into global stardom, LISA still refuses to pick just one version of herself. Her Meta Glasses collaboration makes room for all of them.

Wherever LISA travels, whether it’s a stadium on another continent, a fashion week front row, or a hotel suite she’ll leave by morning, one thing always comes with her. It isn’t a jewel or a lucky charm. It’s a pair of slippers. “I bring them everywhere with me whenever I travel and they are so cozy and make me feel more at home,” she says.

It’s a concise explanation, and an unexpectedly tender detail from someone who spends most of her working life being looked at. The LISA most of the world knows is the one onstage: exact, electric, one of the most recognized performers in pop. But the person carrying slippers from city to city points to another LISA — the one who looks for home wherever she lands. That tension between the star and the homebody is what drives her newest project as creative director: Meta Glasses by LISA. The collection comes in two frames, each representing the two sides to her. The Adventurer, with Blush lenses, is for the LISA who takes her time. The Capri, a sharp cat-eye, is for the LISA who walks onstage.

She’s never pretended there’s only one of her. When she stepped out on her own with her dynamic debut solo album, she gave the world five different personas. Each one was a different character, and each was her. The symbol she chose for that idea was a five-pointed star, and it came up in the very first design meetings for the glasses. Now it sits on the temple tips and the case.

“The star was from my first solo album, Alter Ego. The five points represent five different characters of this album,” LISA shares. “I don’t think you have to pick just one version of yourself, so the star became my way of saying all of them can exist at once. Putting it on the temple tips felt right because it’s small and personal. You don’t see it from far away, but you know it’s there.”

Like the hidden emblem on the glasses, the things LISA holds closest are the ones you only catch up close: the star, the slippers, and Leo, Luca, Louis, and Lego, more commonly known as the cats affectionally referred to as the Lfamily. That instinct for the small and personal carries over to how she actually uses the glasses: off stage, and for the hours in between. Her perfect day off with a pair on is built around the simple pleasures. “I leave the house to get matcha, walk around and listen to music and call friends from home on the glasses. Then spend the day with my Lfamily,” she says, sounding every bit the devoted cat parent. “It’s so fun to take photos and videos of my pets with them because I can hold them and play with them more with my hands free.”

It’s the everyday LISA, hands free and fully present, with the stage version waiting in its case for when she needs it. In keeping with everything else she makes, neither one cancels the other out. She said it best herself: all of them can exist at once.

The two frames are meant to represent your duality: the Adventurer with Blush lenses and the Capri cat-eye. Which one feels more like “everyday LISA,” and which is “stage LISA?” Which one are you reaching for most right now?

The Adventurer feels more like everyday me. I’m a lot more chill when I’m not working and I wear glasses almost everyday, so that’s the pair for that. The Capri is more fierce so when I need something to make a statement, the cat-eye shape is perfect.

The glasses come with fan-only extras like a collectible charm, digital photocards, and a LISA sticker pack. What did you want fans to feel the moment they open the box and turn the glasses on for the first time?

I wanted it to feel like a gift from me and a way for fans to feel closer to me. I really love blind boxes, so making the charms a blind box felt so much more exciting. Then we wanted to do that on the glasses too so that there are more surprises when you use it.

This isn’t your first stint as a creative director, so we have to ask: what does a LISA moodboard actually look like? Is it a camera roll full of screenshots, a Pinterest board, a physical wall? What’s the most random thing saved on it right now?

Honestly, my moodboard is a little bit of everything. Definitely a camera roll full of random screenshots, Pinterest images, old photos, fashion references, colors. Really anything I feel connected to. Sometimes I’ll have a very clear idea, and sometimes I’ll save something just because I like the energy of it.

If the Lfamily could talk, which one would spill the most secrets about you, and what would they say?

None! They are all loyal.

Meta Glasses by LISA are available now via Meta.