At this point in my career of bearing witness to the constant new wave of eyewear (and sunwear) on offer, I really shouldn’t be too staggered by the blend of incredible style, intense innovation and sheer product impact punched out by eyeglasses. I really shouldn’t be… but… I am.

The infusion of energy in its most recent surge comes from the eyewear product review and photo shoot devoted to this month’s style features on Women’s Eyewear. I know I’ve likely delivered this message numerous times before but it always bears repeating that the astonishing and artful qualities of great eyewear attain a position of fashionable leadership and a trend-fest of technology unmatched by most retailed products. And in this particular rave I’m JUST gushing on the frames without regard for the equal stellar attributes of great lens products.

You’ll find ample editorial hugs in my trendsetting notes for the eyewear in the feature. Go ahead, take a read. The style, high tech, colorations, sizing and innovative use of both zyl AND metal (and a few other materials like the wood in our featured Teka  frame) makes me feel the ever present urge to remind ALL of you that the eyewear available to you and on to your customers is FANTASTIC.

And guess what? Even though the more expensive specs out there are certainly worth it, the range of pricing is NOT a limitation when it comes to your offering great glasses.

Of course there is cheap junk out there. And, YES the specs I spy online available directly to the consumer never meet expectations in terms of quality, but as an optical retailer, you are currently in a position of choosing primo product. So… make that the strongest part of your consumer presentation and stagger those eyewear-centric consumers out there, feeding their need AND want for great eyewear.

One brief anecdote to prove my point about primo product at an affordable price point and I’m outta here:
One of 20/20’s featured frames is called The Outstanding from ClearVision’s new Aspire collection. The Friedfeld brothers, David and Peter, recently lost their dad Fred, ClearVision’s founder. In what can be interpreted as a family quest to insure and build on their wonderful father’s legacy, the siblings present this collection in an identity blend of lightness, well-being, innovative structure and soft colorations. They’ve dubbed it as “The Next Generation of Eyewear,” and the name Aspire seems fitting since it is exactly what the eyewear, David, Peter and their wonderful mom Mimi are doing.

Aspire. It goes so well with Inspire.

James J. Spina
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]