Considering the trappings of my career, I’ve never been much of a fan of the word “fashion” as it sways popular culture. I’m far more comfy with “style” as a big denominator when it comes to describing trends, people, attitudes and directions impacting everything from the hard reality of products to… let’s say… the undertones of music.

I’m also squirmy when the term “retro” gets thrown around as being a big impact since, in reality, I find any sort of studied glance backward as nothing more than a sorry crutch. And when so-called trendsetters in “fashion” resort to “retro,” I’m basically outta here. There was a point way-back-when where I started wearing suits as a way of distancing myself from my harder-core rocking daze of the late ’60s through to the late ’80s. Oddly, this shirt ’n’ tie phase got misinterpreted as a sort of ’50s retro at which point… I ditched it and headed back to my rocker roots. And may I also recall that during the heyday of the hippie (read that as the rainbow of bell-bottoms and beads), I was consistently deep into straight jeans and a sort of British foppery instilled by the music coming out of England. If there’s any constant, it has been my Schott Perfecto leather motorcycle jacket (I’ve owned two in my years, one bought used for 8 bucks on St. Mark’s Place in 1967 and the other new at an Army/Navy store in 1985), which easily gives off both a steampunk and post (apocalypse) modern vibe with pure disregard for fashion and retro insinuations as far as I’m concerned.

Be that as it may (or March to be more specific!), we can back into all of this issue by noting the eyewear heralded here previews a season of specs well-versed in the rich history of optical style trends far above, beyond and leading the trends debuting for the spring 2016 buying and selling season. Indeed, our feature ModernEYEz certainly has a post-modern appeal but no frame depicted needs to apologize for its dramatic looks. Eyewear is on a roll as the key go-to part of self-identity for a range of generations, at an array of price points and in a rainbow of branding (designer, lifestyle AND independent) that speaks well for YOUR future. You need to embrace that advantageous position. Your own unique “Perfecto” awaits. Put it on. Get it on. Let the fashionistas keep their stinking bell- bottoms. I suSPECt it’s your time to shine.       

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