In this issue:

Upfront
On Tour with Oakley
Proving its dominance in the field of cycling, Oakley’s athletes had six different leaders and 14 stage wins in the 95th Tour de France. Carlos Sastre (he’s the one in the yellow jersey) emerged victorious at the end of the three-week race in July.

Upfront
Sporting Life
It was a dream team as Marchon paired up with ESPN as the official sponsor of the 2008 Excellence in Sports Achievement Yearly Awards, known simply at the ESPYS.

Upfront
Vogue Goes for A Swim
When Tibi creative director Amy Smilovic prepared to launch the brand’s Resort ’08 collection during Miami Fashion Week, she knew sunwear had to be an integral part of the runway presentation. So she chose Luxottica’s Vogue Eyewear brand to be prominently featured on several looks on the catwalk.

Upfront
All Eyes on Betsey
In an ongoing celebration of her namesake brand founded 30 years ago by American designer Betsey Johnson, Gruen Eyes, an optical boutique in East Hampton, N.Y., recently held a cocktail party for customers, featuring a special preview of Betsey Johnson Eyewear.

Upfront
In Theory
In celebration of their launch, Theory sunglasses took to the streets of Manhattan where they were fitted and feted by chic denizens city-wide. 

Upfront
Eye Jewelry
David Yurman, widely recognized as America’s leading fine jewelry and luxury timepiece designer, and Legacie, The Luxury House of B Robinson Optical, recently hosted a rooftop party for press at the David Yurman design studio in New York’s TriBeCa to launch David Yurman Eyewear. Yurman and Legacie have partnered to produce a line of both sun and ophthalmic designs for men and women, a first for the designer.

Upfront
Into the Pool
During a ceremony hosted by Suffolk County Executive, Steve Levy in Hauppauge, N.Y., ClearVision Optical was awarded a 2008 Regional Commuter Choice Innovator Award.

Upfront
Have You Driven a Ford
Designer Tom Ford, best-known for his re-invention of the sleek ’70s jet-set aesthetic at Gucci and YSL, has touched down at ILORI sunglass boutique with a pair of luxurious limited-edition aviator shades.

Upfront
Eye Wanna Be There Next Time
In many ways it’s more important than an actual sporting event. It’s the increasingly popular “meet-and-greet” where sport celebrities come face-to-face with their adoring fans and everyone gets a chance to celebrate one of most important aspects of any sport: Teamwork.

Upfront
Hall of Frames

Upfront
Lens Marketing
Transitions Optical has launched a new, interactive eyeglass customization process online, the “Eyeglass Guide 2.0” that allows patients to visually build a pair of eyeglasses based on answers to lifestyle questions.

Upfront
Street Seen
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...needs to happen all over the world.

Features
Eye Styles of the Rich and Frame-Us
If you have ever tuned in to the shows on the E! entertainment channel or ever logged onto celebrity-obsessed web sites such as TMZ, you may be familiar with the persistent shouts of the paparazzi, stopping at nothing to grab the attention of the stars.

Features
Spectrum

Features
In-Trick-It Patterns
Floral embroidery. Chic and fanciful designs. Reptilian textures. An artistic spray of stones and studs. Horn, wood grains and tortoise tones… 

Features
Spectrum Textures
Defined in the dictionary as a “distinctive or identifying quality or characteristic,” texture is an essential trait in today’s hottest eyewear styles… 

Features
Spectrum Men
It’s powerful. It’s simple. It’s both classic and cutting edge... It’s the rectangle and it continues its undisputed reign…

Features
Spectrum Women
Trends? What trends? Women’s eyewear knows no boundaries. It covers the spectrum. One glance at the fashion runways show anything goes—from bohemian dresses to tailored tweeds.

Features
A Masterful Architect of Fashion
Known for his eveningwear, American designer Carmen Marc Valvo enjoys bringing “glamorous dressing to every woman’s life.”

Features
Theory and Application
When it comes to eyewear Andrew Rosen is like a man who’s found religion. He’s seen the light and wants to share it with everyone.

Features
All That Jazz

David Schwartz is crazy about jazz. Tucked away in the basement of his 20/20 Optical shop in San Rafael, Calif., just one floor below his polished showroom, is a small chamber containing two drum sets that once belonged to Rufus Speedy Jones, who played with Duke Ellington in the late 1960s.

Whats New
Eyewear Designs: Apple Bottoms Eyewear
Under a multi-year licensing agreement for worldwide distribution, Eyewear Designs launches Apple Bottoms Eyewear. Apple Bottoms is a clothing line that caters to trendsetting women of all shapes and sizes.

Whats New
Kenmark Group: Lilly Pulitzer Eyewear
Kenmark Group launches its Lilly Pulitzer Eyewear collection, a brand inspired by the Palm Beach lifestyle. Included are 14 ophthalmic and four sun styles targeted to women 17 to 54 and six ophthalmic frames for girls six to 16.

Editors Note
Thoughts of Madame Lafont
I’m so sad. I had just finished writing my monthly editor’s letter when my dear friend Ray Khalil, the president of Lafont Eyewear, called to tell me Madame Laurence Lafont had passed away.

Fashion Feature
Spectrum

L&T
Banking On Premium Lenses
As the price of everything from fuel to groceries continues to rise, the optical industry is faced with the challenge of persuading consumers that premium spectacle lenses and treatments still represent a good value.

L&T
We Got Slimed
Remember the famous scene in “Ghostbusters” when Bill Murray’s character encounters a bulbous green blob that “slimes” him and his team?

L&T
Super Powered Dispensing
With the long legacy of “super heroes” in our pop culture, have you ever wondered whether a superhero might exist whose powers would have made them known as the Super Optician?