ON THE PARTY CIRCUIT AT VEW
As usual, International Vision Expo West, held last month in Las Vegas, was an occasion for suppliers to unveil their latest product lines, celebrate new license agreements and socialize with customers.

Among the lens companies that joined in the fun was Vision-Ease Lens, who co-hosted a party at the Lavo nightclub at the Palazzo with Spectera and UnitedHealthcare. The event featured networking and prizes. Pictured at top are Dominique Jara and Tina Lahti of Vision-Ease Lens as they raise a glass with Marc Van Camp, Greg Hibbard and Michael Keating of Spectera/UnitedHealthcare. Below, Keating greets the guests alongside Lahti and Jara.

Vision-Ease Lens also hosted a meet-and-greet with soccer star Mia Hamm, who is the spokesperson for Coppertone Polarized Lenses. Customers, media and Vision-Ease Lens employees met Hamm and had an opportunity for autographs and photos.

Logo of the Americas and Essilor hosted a party at the Aquaknox restaurant in the Venetian to celebrate the new partnership between Tag Heuer sunglasses and Xperio UV polarized sun lenses (see following related story). Leading the festivities are Miguel Lopez, president, Logo of the Americas, Inc. and Essilor’s Pierre Bertrand.

TAG HEUER EYEWEAR PARTNERS WITH XPERIO UV LENSES
Logo of the Americas, distributor of Tag Heuer Avant-Garde Eyewear and Essilor announced at International Vision Expo West that the iconic sunwear brand will now feature Essilor’s Xperio UV polarized sun lenses in its prescription and plano eyewear expert range.

“Xperio UV lenses are a pioneering force in the industry, and we wanted the confidence of knowing that we’re providing wearers the absolute best, most advanced lens technology.”

Starting this fall, Xperio UV superior polarized lenses will be available in Tag Heuer’s popular water sport, high-mountain and HD driving polarized lenses.

“We’ll be featuring Xperio lenses in our top sun sellers and all of our new sunwear styles,” notes Lopez, stating that Tag Heuer sunwear is distributed at 2,400 independent optical locations in the U.S.“This is a pure independent play that reinforces our commitment to the independent practitioner,” remarks Pierre Bertrand, vice president, marketing for AR, polarized, merchandising and special projects for Essilor of America.

Xperio UV superior polarized sun lenses provide maximum UV protection, scratch resistance, cleanability and visual clarity.

—Andrew Karp