Music producer Will.i.am has taken his much-vaunted interest in design a step further by teaming up with George Gorrow, co-founder of fashion brand Ksubi, to create his own eyewear range (+ slideshow).

Called ill.i Optics, the collection was "born from a life-long passion for experimental eyewear on and off the stage", according to an official statement on the newly-launched website for the range.

"Ill.i marries iconic eyewear classics with contemporary progressive design," it continued.

The initial range includes nine different styles of sunglasses and another nine styles of optical frames.

References for the collection include the oversized glasses worn in the 1980s by hip hop artists including Run DMC and Afrika Bambaataa.

"I've been incorporating Will.i.am's progressive thinking and ideas on design and innovation, while still acknowledging our shared and complete infatuation with historical eyewear and designers of the past," said Gorrow.

"Ill.i is contemporary, inventive and design focused, while concurrently being a nod to popular culture and hip hop roots, from two eyewear obsessives who have been collecting for over 20 years."

Gorrow was one of the original co-founders of troubled Australian fashion label Ksubi.

Will.i.am, who first found fame as a member of hip-hop pop group The Black Eyed Peas, has been vocal about his interest in both design and technology in recent years.

In 2011, computer chip company Intel appointed him as a creative director. Earlier this year, he unveiled a 3D-printer developed in collaboration with Coca-Cola that used filaments made from recycled bottles. He also contributed to one of the installations in the Barbican's Digital Revolution exhibition on computer coding and design.