In this issue:

Upfront
Super Sun
Sàfilo USA and Solstice Sunglass Boutique joined forces this past summer to donate 200 pairs of designer sunglasses (valued at $32,500 wholesale) to Super Saturday, an annual charity event in the Hamptons in Long Island, N.Y.

Upfront
Teen Seen

It was a teen dream. The 10th annual Teen Choice Awards aired recently and ck Calvin Klein Eyewear was an official sponsor. The Marchon brand provided a personal eyewear makeover to each Teen Choice celebrity.

Upfront
ClearVision Helps Out
ClearVision Optical decided it was time to get involved. The Hauppauge, N.Y.-based vendor forged a partnership with United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County a year ago when both companies were among those honored by the Hauppauge Industrial Association for business excellence.

Upfront
Eyeing the Vote
It was all about casting your vote… with a little eyewear thrown in for good measure. Sàfilo USA and Solstice Sunglass Boutique joined together as sponsors of the Red, White & Blue Mega Summer Oasis Gifting Retreat and Lounge hosted by R&B singer Christina Milian.

Upfront
Preserving the Vision of the Future
Optic Nerve has discovered a way to give protection to the other side of the world without ever leaving home. The company donated 1,000 pairs of sunglasses to the dZi Foundation, which facilitates a variety of educational sponsorships, clinics and community services throughout the world.

Upfront
Protecting Wild Eyes
Performance eyewear brand 7Eye has partnered with the Boise, Idaho-based Winter Wildlands Alliance to promote the preservation of winter wildlands and snowsports experiences on public lands.

Upfront
Eye on Alaska
Alaska is hot… and not because of global warming. The national and international eye is on Alaska and more specifically on its governor, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate—and even more specifically on her eyewear which “has created quite a stir,” according to a story that appeared on September 4 in USA Today.

Upfront
RBEyes
If the Chicago Cubs make it to the World Series this year, infielder Mike Fontenot can point to his contact lenses as one of the contributing factors.

Upfront
Cachet on the Catwalk
An eyewear highlight of New York’s fashion week was the Proenza Schouler Spring 2009 ready-to-wear collection.

Upfront
Another 20/20 Expert
The August Parting Glance challenge to identify the sunwear Alejandro Escovedo is wearing on the cover of his new “Real Animal” CD has been won by Melissa Jenkins. She sent the simple reply of “Ray-Ban 3267” and when asked for more information she literally wrote our copy

Upfront
Hall of Frames
Golden Boy — Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps (1), who took home a record eight gold medals from the Beijing games, shows off a couple of Nike styles: the Diverge sunglass and the Nike Supercharged 600 with Flexon, both from Marchon…

Upfront
Lens Marketing
Essilor presents “Think About Your Eyes Week” at Six Flags Over Texas 

Upfront
Street Seen
SUN DIEGO — OK. This is NOT Hall of Frames... but it could be. Every picture here tells a refreshing sunwear trend and except for the fact that we don’t know the names of these people or the brands of frames they are wearing, all are certainly sun celebrities to 20/20. Way to GO San Diego.

Features
Bountiful Harvest

Features
Deluxe Edition
Extravagant. Extraordinary. Extra special. Definitions of deluxe… with the emphasis on extra. That’s what luxury eyewear is all about.

Features
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION
Luxury eyewear is an art form… with every element carefully selected to enhance and deliver a luxe message. Premium materials play a key role. Style and shape soar to new heights.

Features
UltraSun
A sumptuous feast for the eyes…emblazoned with stones. An extravaganza of crystals. A visual sunglass experience at its ultimate.

Features
Eye Talk, You Talk
When Rick Hogan opened his optical retail shop, Optical Designs, in 1986, “Top Gun” was causing a frenzy for aviator sunglasses and gas was $.93 a gallon. Prices have definitely changed since then, but fashion trends have come full circle back to aviator shapes.

Features
UltraExtras
These pieces are the ultimate in eyewear accessories. They are real… real pieces of jewelry. Made with the same materials and techniques used in the jewelry industry.

Whats New
Nouveau Eyewear: Kay Unger New York
Nouveau Eyewear launches its Kay Unger New York eyewear collection. The eight dressy, feminine styles aimed at women 34 to 55 feature Swarovski crystals, mosaic designs, textured temples and the Kay Unger logo subtly placed on each frame.

Whats New
Silhouette: Daniel Swarovski Crystal Eyewear
Silhouette Optical relaunches its popular Daniel Swarovski Crystal Eyewear collection with renewed emphasis on dramatic designs. Sophistication, elegance and minimal modernism are key elements in the newest styles.

Whats New
Legacie: David Yurman Eyewear Collection
David Yurman, premiere American jewelry designer, partners with Legacie, The Luxury House of B. Robinson Optical, to launch David Yurman Eyewear. The collection takes its inspiration from Yurman’s jewelry, using such elements as bold colored gems, buckles, cushion-cut stones and cable designs.

Editors Note
Lifestyles of the Rich and Frame Us
By virtue of its chief “virtue” luxury eyewear can be a hard nut (or should that be ‘diamond’?) to crack for eyewear patients, interested consumers, eyewear manufacturers, optical retailers... and the editorial and advertising teams at 20/20.

Behind the Seens
Behind The Seens - Seen Near the Seine

L&T
Op Kit
From an ECP’s point of view, it seems that the process of helping people to select eyewear often falls into one of two categories: easy or hard. Whether it’s frame or lens selection, measuring and fitting, fashion and appearance, or cost and insurance, it quickly becomes apparent if things are going the easy way or the hard way.

L&T
Emphasizing Substance Over Style
Memo to: Joe Biden
Re: Playing the Optical Card

L&T
BIREFRINGENCE: THE DISPENSER’S FORGOTTEN FRIEND
In 1669 Danish scientist Erasmus Bartolin discovered that calcite crystals could polarize light by a phenomenon called double refraction, now commonly called birefringence.

L&T
L&T Basics
The Subtleties of Taking Heights and PDs Try on eyewear that has a minimum eye wire profile width of 1mm and fixate your eye on a line of text on a computer. (The distance from you to the computer screen is assumed to be approximately equal to the distance from your client when taking height measurements.)