Sep
2002

Upfront



Double your pleasure. 1 Sharon Stone gets our 20/20 Golden Eye Award this month. The actress was seen wearing two different eyewear styles recently. Inset, in Christian Roth style CR 142218 GP from CXD/Charmant and at right, Stone in the Vera Wang Luxe Flatscreen frame from Kenmark… Aces. Tennis phenoms and sisters 2 Venus and 3 Serena Williams sport styles from Marchon. Serena wears Donna Karan 8804 while big sis Venus, who she defeated in the ladies final at Wimbeldon, wears Nike Hyperion WR…
 The master. Comedian 4 Dana Carvey wears Kenneth Cole New York’s Ellay Times eyeglasses from ClearVision in his current movie “Master of Disguise”… A little bit country. Reining Country Music Awards “Male Vocalist of the Year” 5 Toby Keith dons Marchon Airlock 700/19s. The singer recently released his new album “Unleashed” and appeared last month on the cover of “Country Weekly” magazine… Death becomes her. Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee for HBO’s “Six Feet Under” 6 Rachel Griffiths wears Fendi Suns style 255 in palladium from Marchon… Spanish fly. Latin singing heart throb 7 Enrique Inglesias appeared on the “Today Show” in Burberry style 8927S from Sáfilo… She’s got the look.  Actress 8 Kelly Lynch wears HUGO style HG 15816 GP from CXD/Charmant… On the hunt. Animal Planet’s own “Crocodile Hunter” 9 Steve Irwin looks fierce in a pair of Flexon frames style 1300/1 from Marchon… Eye like it. 10 Jennie Garth, late of TV’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” and star of the new WB sitcom “What I Like About You” with husband 10 Peter Facinelli, who appears in the new Fox show “Fastlane.” Garth wears Serengeti Velocity while Facinelli sports Bollé’s Pharium… In the red. Donning Sàfilo shades on the red carpet during the second annual BET Awards are Hip hop singer 11 Nelly in Gucci 1691S and veteran songstress 12 Chaka Khan in Christian Dior Diorella… We can be heroes. Ray-Ban was a sponsor of the recent “A Time for Heroes” fundraiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Sporting Ray-Ban shades from Luxottica at the event are actress 13 Daisy Fuentes in RB 3158, 14 Camryn Manheim of “The Practice” in RB 3155 and “Friends” star 15 Lisa Kudrow in style RB 3156… Super freak. Singer 16 Anastacia sports Double-Track in gunmetal from Morgenthal Frederics on the cover of her album “Freak of Nature.” The recording artist sold more than 10 million copies of the album overseas and wrote “Boom” the official song of the 2002 World Cup, which she performed at half time during the final match between Brazil and Germany held in Yokohama, Japan… A classic. VIPs were invited to personally select Kenneth Cole sunglasses donated by ClearVision at the 2002 Hamptons Auto Classic & Concours D’Elegance Benefit Luncheon and Fashion Show on the grounds of Sayre Park in Bridgehampton. Showing off his Kenneth Cole suns at the event is actor 17 Alec Baldwin… Winger. 18 John Spencer of the political drama “The West Wing” in Chaps 68 from the Ralph Lauren Eyewear collection from Sàfilo… Foxy frames. 19 Beyonce Knowles, lead singer of Destiny’s Child who also plays Foxy Cleopatra in the latest Austin Powers’ flick “Goldmember,” models Valentino 5211S from Sàfilo on the pages of “Movieline” magazine… Zoinks! “Scooby-Doo” star 20 Freddie Prinze Jr. in Kata Eyewear style KE163 Corbu on the pages of “People” mag… Fast, furious frames. Action star 21 Vin Diesel of “The Fast and the Furious” and “XXX” appears in Yves Saint Laurent 2024S from Sàfilo in “GQ” magazine.  
—Jackie Micucci

book marc
Robert Marc made the summer reading list. The designer’s eyewear, which has graced the face of many a celebrity on both the big and small screen, appears in a passage of James Patterson’s latest thriller “The Beach House.” Both a New York Times and Barnes and Noble best seller, the book is a murder mystery set in a wealthy couple’s Hamptons beach house.

Here’s the excerpt immortalizing Marc:
“I slip away from the house and walk back through the fields of shining metal until I find them on a New York State license plate screwed into the svelte behind of a forest green Benz convertible. I slide into the front passenger seat and start pushing buttons to make myself feel welcome. With a comforting whir, windows drop into doors, the roof parts and Dean Martin’s wise-ass baritone pours out of a dozen speakers. I check behind the visor. Nothing. Then I fish around in the compartment between the seats. Inside a Robert Marc sunglass case is a long, thin joint dressed in a pink ribbon. I spark it ”   —JM

futurama
It’s like tripping through the looking glass into a futuristic world. l.a. Eyeworks new retail space at 7386 Beverly Boulevard in, well, L.A. of course, epitomizes the company’s motto of “Future Vision.”

Designed by Neil Denari, the store has a clean ultra-modern flavor. A sleek glass storefront leads customers into an interior canopy that flows and curves. Ambient lighting in the form of a skylight and diffused florescent lights was used so customers could try on eyewear in an optimum environment without distracting shadows. The loft-like space also features a sculpture by Jim Isermann on the back wall—a series of flowing vertical panels.
For l.a. Eyeworks, the future is indeed now.                     —JM

pet project
Wildlife veterinarian Jennifer Conrad uses art to express the joy of animals. She also uses it—as well as captivating photos of animals—on a series of lens cleaning cloths to help raise money for her pet project: The Paw Project, a charity designed to increase public awareness of the effects of feline declawing. The organization also works to abolish the practice of declaw surgery and rehabilitates big cats such as lions, tigers, cougars, leopards and jaguars, that have been declawed as a result of being kept as pets.

So why cleaning cloths? “People just love them,” says Dr. Conrad. “There’s something about them; people think they can indulge themselves. They’re like little tapestries. Plus it raises people’s consciousness without cramming the message down their throat.”

The cloths wholesale for $2.50 each and retail for $5.99 with 25 cents going to the Paw Project. (The organization also sells greeting cards to raise funds, a project the vet spearheaded with wildlife photographer Michelle Miller.)
Dr. Conrad founded the Paw Project in 1999 soon after her work at a sanctuary made her aware of the problem. “They had 130 big cats and 40 were declawed,” she explains. “They just hobbled around. Some of the mountain lions were actually walking on their elbows.” After one of the cats died, she dissected his paws and discovered the animal did not suffer from arthritis as she had suspected but had nails growing in his skin from being declawed. Afterwards she decided to perform surgery on one of the lions to see if she could help him. “He was under for five hours but when we woke him, he stood right up.”

In addition to her work with big cats, Dr. Conrad has traveled to Namibia to de-horn rhinos, making them unattractive targets for slaughter by poachers who prize the horns for ornamental uses and has treated endangered Asian elephants in Nepal.

Those interested in ordering the cloths can log onto www.lalacards.com or www.pawproject.com or call (877) 729-7765.                                     —JM

 

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