The Optical Vision Site

Eyewear Trend Report – August 11 – September 2, 2010

Written by Cathy on September 2, 2010 – 7:06 pm -

Eyewear Trends update; Retro and vintage looks continues to grow, but companies such as OGI are taking up the natural trend and utilizing a wood grain effect to go along with the vintage look. Eyewear campaigns are getting very creative with Ksubi eyewear dark look among the best of a political statement as well as an artistic look. More and more upscale eyewear companies are using Youtube. Technology Eyewear continues to play a role and will become a very strong trend going forward.

Wood eyewear is going strong. Shwood collaboration Wish will bring about a better consumer awareness of wood and eco friendly eyewear. New sustainable eyewear company opened using FSC certified wood, Driftwood Eyewear company. 10 New eyewear launches since our last report August 11.

Fashion Eyewear New Product

• Marc O’Polo By Tura
• New Heritage Collection By Frieze Frames
• Ksubi Fall 2010 Ad Campaign
• William Rast (Justin Timberlake) Sneak Preview
• OGI’s Wood Grain Look Perfect For Back To Nature Appeal
• Victoria Beckham- Aviator Look For Fall
• Converse Releases Glow In The Dark Sunwear
• Han Kjobenhavn Retro Vintage Eyewear Reflects His Clothing
• A Different Kind of 3D Eyewear- OKIA

Eyewear Videos

• Otis Eyewear
• Framers
• Salt Optics
• Kirk Originals Video

Technology Eyewear

Pixel Electronic Eyewear

3D Eyewear

NASA Looks At Trufocals

Polaroid Signs 3D Company

Anti-Aging Eyewear

New Eyewear Company  Launches

Protege Eyewear – Everybody getting into the Lady Gaga look for eyewear

Dizm Eyewear

Vestal Eyewear- actually launched At Vision Expo East 2011

Freeway Eyewear- Eyewear Named after LA’s Freeways

Massada Eyewear

Made You Look Eyewear

Michael K Forever Officially Launched- Hip Hop Eyewear

Milly NY, Launches New Eye Wear

New and Eco Friendly Eyewear

Cardboard Eyewear – Eco Friendly fun eyewaer

Drift Eyewear- New Eco Friendly Eyewear

Bendall Design- Handmade wood Eyewear (not really new but new to me!)

Eyewear Collaboration

Shwood x Wish For Wood Eyewear Series

Celebrity Eyewear

Rihanna Wearing Vintage JPG Eiffel Tower Eyewear

R Kelly Wearing Dita in New Video

Big Sean Wearing Louie Vuitton

Lindsay Lohan in Sama

George Clooney in The American Wearing Persol

Sports Performance Eyewear

Wiley X Releases New Safety Eyewear

Joshua Richmond Wearing Pilla For Shooting

Numa Tactical Glasses Passes Kids Test

Wacky Eyewear

Linda Farrow x Walter Van Beirendonck Wacky but Wearable Eyewear

Linda Farrow x Jeremy Scott- Bone Eyewear

Tags: Eyewear, Trends
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Lady Gaga’s Big Sparkly Eyewear

Written by Shirley on August 24, 2010 – 7:27 pm -

We like Sparkly Eyewear, it is a definite fashion trend and has been one of our top post subjects but Lady Gaga likes her’s really big and makes them very Opti-fun! For more wearable sparkly eyewear we suggest friezeframes, they rock this eyewear category!

Tags: Eyewear, Opti-Fun
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1950′s Eyewear Trend is Now

Written by Shirley on August 22, 2010 – 9:04 pm -

We are hearing and seeing a lot of buzz about 1950′s style coming back in. Last week I took a couple of young ladies out to the theater and they dressed in 1950′s style. That tells me that the trend is not just coming back but is here! It is being shown in all the fashion shows yes, but when you see it on young people in the street that tells you more! It tells you it is not just fashion magazine hype but is real. This is a trend that will do well as it works not just for teens but all ages, and will become mainstream. Not everyone will buy into of course but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t embrace it for customers that will and make some 50′s eyewear styles available and display them with confidence. Just don’t put lined bi-focal lenses it them, ha ha!

I just read this piece about Geek is Chic on the Eyecessorize FB page. Katy Perry really has the look, eyewear as well the clothes (skirt a wee bit short for the 50′s!) as seen on the Katie Perry website and Bettie Page pin up look on her current tour.

What a great opportunity this is for eyewear, plenty of companies are already on it. We saw OGI Frames do the Mad Men New Season premier party. This TV show has become very popular and a lot of fans love the look which is very 50′s/early 60′s, see pictures below.  I love these eyeglass frames by OGI shown in the pictures by Stacy Schwartz taken at the Mad Men party.

Tags: Eyewear, Marketing, Trends
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Car Freak Eyewear -An Eyecare Retail Strategy

Written by Cathy on August 12, 2010 – 8:00 pm -

With the launching of Maybach Eyewear, I got to thinking about how many car freaks there are in the USA and could this be a possibility of a store within a store retail concept? How many cars companies have eyewear collections? Just for the fun of it, here’s the list I put together along with the top ten most expensive cars in the market today and which car brands have eyewear licenses. Means they have an eyewear line

My personal favorite is from Grix Eyewear who designed eyewear built around classic cars.- Love those fins!

Car Based Eyewear Brands

Aston Martin Eyewear-

Bentley Eyewear- Limited Edition Eyewear

Bugatti Eyewear-the Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport use 1001 hp, 16-cylinder engine, and has been developed so there will be no draft inside, even when exploring the upper reaches of the car’s 217 mph top speed. This car is the world’s fastest roadster.

Cadillac Eyewear- Windsor Eyes

Carrera Eyewear-By Safilo

Cobra- Both Bolle,  Oakley , Orgren, have Cobra Sunglasses

Corvette Eyewear

Ferrari Eyewear - By Marcolin-The Ferrari Enzo $670,000. The Enzo has a top speed of 217 mph and reaching 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. Only 400 units were produced and it is currently being sold for over $1,000,000 at auctions.

Hummer Eyewear- Signature Eyewear

Jaguar Eyewear- Eastern States

Jeep Eyewear- This used to be distributed by L’Amy

The Koenigsegg-  ($1.3 Million)has no eyewear line, probably a limited edition series will come out at some point. Koenigsegg-The CCXR is an “environmentally-friendly” version of the CCX, powered by a modified twin-supercharged V8 engine from the CCX, converted to use E85 or E100 ethanol fuel as well as standard 98 octane petrol. When run on regular petrol, the CCXR develops 806 bhp (601 kW), but when the car is run on E85 Biofuel, the CCXR develops 1,018 bhp (759 kW). Weight-to-power ratio is 2.76 lb/hp. Torque is 782 ft·lb (1,060 N·m). The CCXR can achieve 62 mph (100 km/h) in 2.9 seconds. Koenigsegg Trevita ($2.21 Million) is most expensive car in the world. Just three units to be produced. Koenigsegg Trevita is designed based on Koenigsegg CCXR

Lamborghini Eyewear – The Lamborghini Reventon ($1.6 Million)The most powerful and the most expensive Lamborghini ever built. It takes 3.3 seconds to reach 60 mph and it has a top speed of 211 mph. Its rarity (limited to 20) and slick design are the reasons why it is so expensive and costly to own.

Range Rover Eyewear- Distributed by the Logo Group

Leblanc- No eyewear ($765,000)Designed with 24 hours resilience test at Le mans. It can be driven on the road legally. Mirabeau is using 4.7-liter V8 engine, 700 hp, and can reach average speed of 230 mile / hours. Specially made to order, including for semi automatic transmission system version.

Lotus – By Jonathan Paul Fitovers

Maserati Eyewear- Distributed by  DeRigo Vision- Or in 2009 they did a limited edition Maserati eyewear under Lozza for Maserati.

Maybach Eyewear- Eyewear being released at Vision Expo West and Silmo. Maybach Landaulet ($1.4 Million) This car is most expensive cars brand from Germany. Landaulet is the most expensive saloon car. This car have 604 HP, with top speed 155 miles / h, and using 12 twin turbo engine.

McLaren F1 ($970,000) No Eyewear but-In 1994, the McLaren F1 was the fastest and most expensive car.

Mercedes-Benz Eyewear -By Allison Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Roadster ($495,000) A GT supercar, the SLR McLaren is the fastest automatic transmission car in the world with a top speed of 206 mph+ and reaching 60 mph in 3.8 seconds.

Mustang Eyewear- Sold online

Pagani- ($1.8 Million) No Eyewear but there are only 5 car units available. Chassis made from carbon titanium. Powered by 678 HP Mercedes AMG V12, only 3.4 seconds to reach 100 kms/hours. Can reach 217 mph top speed.

Porsche- Distributed by Tuscany Eyewear- The Porsche Carrera GT ($440,000) A supercar with dynamic stability control and a top speed of 205 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.9 seconds.

Quattro- Distributed by Live Eyewear

Saleen S7 Twin Turbo ($555,000) No eyewear but the first true American production certified supercar, ranked 3rd for the fastest car in the world. It has a top speed of 248 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.2 seconds.

SSC Ultimate Aero – ($740,000) No Eyewear but an American-built mid-engine supercar by Shelby SuperCars. It’s a new model with 270 mph top speed.

Taxi Studio 2 Occhiali

Cadillac Lenses - Yes there really is Cadillac Lenses

Least we forget: Many Eyewear companies are involved in the car racing industry.

• ClearVision- Supports NASCAR,  Wiley X- Support NASCAR, Kasey Kahne Eyewear, Dale Ernhardt Eyewear, Kyle Busch (launching with Electric Visual) Tony Stewart Eyewear (Oakleys) and Petrol Eyewear, Tesla supported by Tag Heuer, Viva launching William Rast Eyewear Collection…
• More on Fashionable Driving Lenses and Eyewear From mivision

Tags: Eyewear, Retail
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Eyewear Trend Report – August 11, 2010

Written by Cathy on August 11, 2010 – 7:53 pm -

Eyewear Trend Report and News From July 22 to August 11, 2010. We are continuing to see more new ‘eyewear ‘companies, 6 new companies for this report and 3 for our last trend report. The difference is these companies are selling both directly to the consumer via websites and offering their products to optical retailers and fashion boutiques and other outlets.

• Wood Eyewear seems to be a hot item, whether it’s because the unemployed are getting into the eyewear game. We found 1 new wood eyewear company, which makes about 5 wood eyewear companies in the USA alone.
• Limited edition eyewear continues to expand more with collaborations with designers. YouTube eyewear fashion shows are becoming the new medium to attract consumer demand for products. (see Eyewear Videos)
• Music Motifs are showing up more often which is why we made a special category. We predict you will see more eyewear companies with either collaboration with musicians or musical motifs/ themes on their websites.
• Temple Decor- Symbols, Peace Signs, split temples, architectural temples, crazy temples, wacky temples and of course interchangeable temples.

Wacky Eyewear

Concrete Eyewear

Chanel Masquerade Eyewear

Eyewear Fashion Videos

Lafont Fall Winter 2010

Miyagi Eyewear

Gotti Eyewear- Fall Winter 2010

Fredenhaus Eyewear

The Oliver Peoples Story

Kliik Denmark- Behind The Scenes

Oliver Goldsmith Story

Robert Marc Celebrity List

Asbury Warlock Goggle Review Winter 2011

Ralph Vaessen Eyewear- Fall Winter 2011 (Buffalo Horn Eyewear)

Luxury Eyewear

Yves Cogan $10,000 +  Eyewear

New Launches

Maybach Eyewear Sneak Preview

India Nation Launches Eyewear Collection

TC Charton- Eyewear For Asians By Asians

Louie Spence Launches Pineapple Eyewear Collection

KBL Fall 2011 Fashion Eyewear (not really new launch but new company this year)

New Coco and Breezy Eyewear by 20 Year Olds

Holly Carpenter Launches Owl-like Eyewear Collection

Performance Eyewear

Wiley X Black Ops

Safety Eyewear With LED Lighting

Eyewear Licenses

Marcolin Picks Up Diesel Eyewear License (Safilo drops Diesel)

Greg Norman x Aspex Eyewear Launch

Handmade Eyewear

Wooden Specs Studio- Wood Artistic Eyewear

Limited Edition Eyewear

John Varvatos Limited Edition Eyewear

Prada Launches Limited Edition Swing Eyewear

Kix Eyewear- Limited Edition Screwless Eyewear From ic!Berlin

Oliver Goldsmith Limited Edition Vintage Eyewear

Super Special Limited Edition Sunwear

Music Themed Eyewear

Black Eyewear Jazz Musician Themed Retro Eyewear

Lost Boyz Inks Deal With Forever Michael Designer Eyewear

Design Awards

OKIA Eyewear Wins 3 iF Awards

Fashion Eyewear

Undostrial Eyewear

Change Me, Adaptable Eyewear With Changeable Temples by Vistan

Copenhagen Eyewear Returns To the US Market

Eye Symmetric Eyewear

Charmant Launches AdLib Collection

MAD In Italy- Jaunty Eyewear

Variation Design Eyewear Inspired By Landscapes

Fubu- Lilly- Lilly Pultizer Goes National

Peace.Love.Daisy- New Daisy Fuentes Eyewear With Peace Signs

Eyewear Collaborations

Stussy x Original Fake

mastermind Japan and Noir Eyes

Celebrity Eyewear

Jennifer Lopez Wearing Tom Ford

Katy Perry Wearing Prada Postcards Eyewear

Persol Eyewear in Entourage

Tyra Banks Wearing Mercura Eyewear on Tyra

Eyewear Trend Reports

Transworld Business - Sunglass Trend Report

Tags: Eyewear, Trends
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Going To Vision Expo West- A Must Have- Poker Eyewear

Written by Cathy on August 10, 2010 – 8:28 pm -

We can’t believe that Vision Expo West is right around the corner and for those who are looking forward to playing poker in Las Vegas you might check out these Poker Eyeglasses from Royal Poker. Designed for all poker players they are mirrored (making it difficult to read the eyes) and have dual dielectric anti-reflective coating enhancing vision in low light conditions.

You can also have your own lenses made up with mirrored coatings and anti-reflected lenses for poker playing, It seems there are not too many companies offering poker eyewear. Blue Shark Optics (does prescription lenses)

There are about 60 Million Poker players in the US and more people play poker than golf! That said why all the advertising for golf eyewear and not for poker eyewear? Seems to me might be a good marketing.

Tags: Eyewear
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Unique Baby Sunglasses + Pacifier=Sun Protection For Babies

Written by Cathy on July 28, 2010 – 8:58 pm -

This was a wow! Just when you think you have seen it all, something new comes up- take a look at this baby pacifier which serves as a dual functionality as sunglasses.

This is the first sunglass pacifier and it is available from Lytot a french eyewear company.

From their website:

• Lytot is designed for infant from 0 to 36 months,
• Lytot is available with 5 different shapes, 4 pastel colours (crystal, pink, blue and green), and 2 sizes :
• Small size is designed for children from 0 to 12 month and includes 2 pacifiers 0 to 12 months
• Medium size is designed for children from 6 to 36 month and includes 2 pacifiers 6 to 36 months.
• Lytot is made in France.

HIGH TECHNICITY FOR YOUR CHILD TOGETHER ENVIRONNEMENT CARE :

• Lytot’s specifications are far beyond current glasses norms: To maximise safety of your infant, Lytot successfully qualified for the EN71-x infant care standard which guarantees a Phtalate free product.
• Lytot is hand cut in France from bio sourced cellulose acetate. This special acetate is produce exclusively from natural product and is thus oil free.
• Lyot will be custom fitted by the optician (arms between the bottom of circles and the comforter clip) to fit the morphology of the infant.

LENSES :

• LYTOT lens have been developed specially for children, and is designed to stop the dazzling blue light.  These BLUE BLOCKER lens stops 90% of blue light when widespread smoked coloured lens blocks only 80 % of it.
• BLUE BLOCKER lens are Bisphenol A free, which is not the case to polycarbonate lenses usually used for children sunglasses. Biphenol A is mutagen, it is being scrutinised but not yet ban for nursing bottle norms.  Our pro-active approach is to exclude Biphenol-A from LYTOT.
• LYTOT compiling with both infant care and glasses norms, it is an insurance for the parent to protect their infant’ eyes with the highest safety standards.

Tags: Eyewear
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Eyeing The Past-Vintage Eyewear Restoration

Written by Cathy on July 22, 2010 – 8:07 pm -

So many people are re-purchasing/ purchasing vintage and retro eyewear today not just because of cost and eyewear fashion trends. The best part about vintage eyewear it it the most eco-friendly thing a person can do, reuse the old into the new!

Unfortunately many of the vintage eyewear found in Grandpa’ junk are not in good condition and needs restoration just like any antique. A company RetroSpecs specializes in vintage eyewear from 1870 to 1970 and restores ‘former beauty and design’ to vintage fashion eyewear.

RetroSpecs based in Los Angeles on Melrose Avenue is sold throughout the world, They stock over 3000 designs from 15 different manufacturers with plenty of parts for repairing. Each antique frames leaving RetroSpecs receives a Registration number and recorded in the database, identifying design, bridge etc.. to insure future customer service.

And they are not cheap:

…however, comes at a steep price. The 1925 Shuron Optical wire-rims he sells for $8,000 marked the beginning, Mr. Owens said, of modern eyewear. It was the first frame to use nose pads, and an optician was no longer needed to customize the bridge piece.

Several pairs of flat and oval 1870 X-Bridge spectacles, from France, run about $1,200. ”Nietzsche used to wear ones like these,” Mr. Owens said.

Wealthy men and women in about equal measure wear them, retailers say. RetroSpecs stands out perhaps because it has attracted a celebrity following, including Marc Anthony, Michael J. Fox and P. Diddy, who owns about 50 pairs. Tom Cruise wore 1940′s RetroSpecs shades, custom-fitted to his nose bridge, to the Los Angeles premiere of his movie ”Collateral” this month. And Jennifer Aniston has bought 1940′s gold Ray-Ban aviators. The sunglasses, once inexpensive fashion frames, now sell for around $1,395.

Opticians say their clients do not seem scared off by the price tags, though many pairs cost from $400 to $1,100. Today, they said, frames are as much about fashion as function, and RetroSpecs fans are willing to pay for a distinctive look.

So here is what I say- pull out those vintage frames, clean them up, send to retrospecs if necessary, put in updated and cool mirror coatings, advertise, display and merchandise to appeal to hip people and put some green into your pocket.

Tags: Eyewear, Marketing, Sales, Trends
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