Sport is an interesting arena in eyewear.
As with sports in general
there is always a sweet spot where
high tech meets tradition. That
team up happens in everything
from baseball to motor sports and
surfing through to golf. The rules of the “game” might be
steeped in respected traditions but the tools of the game
are quite often cutting edge in their materials and design.
That competitive yet progressive dichotomy holds
true for sport eyewear as well. Quite literally there is
a poetic appeal to the look and performance of specialized
sport-specific eyewear. The forever-current rage
of great technology has always been inspirational.
Think about it. Even Walt Whitman waxed ecstatic
about the epitome “of the modern” being able to
energize the spirit in “Leaves of Grass.” And although
he was versing on steam locomotives, we’re more
concerned here with eyewear. Some key sport leaders
have recently infused their regular Rx eyewear collections
with contemporary frames hugely impressive in
their merge-mastery of interpreting the art of frame
making seized by sport eyewear’s best performance,
quality and design characteristics.
Leaders such as Nike, Adidas, Oakley, Rudy Project,
Wiley X and Columbia prove you can easily sidestep
any retro-trends by cultivating your own sport heritage
of bold technologies and infuse Rx frames with features
that make perfect vision sense. The literal “wow-thatlooks-
great-on-you” nature of this new eyewear is a
trend TOTALLY unforeseen just a few short years
ago. And the ability of these collections to appeal to
a wide generational and gender-sensational range
literally cleaves a new category into the optical
dispensing-retailing scenario.
We’re devoting a two-part Focus dubbed Team Mates
to the phenomenon in this issue. This game is still
relatively new. Be the first on your block to choose up
sides and get these players in some contemporary face
action for your team.
James J. Spina
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
June 2007
James Spina