When I wandered over to this opti-arena some 15 years ago, there was a big research metric buzz about an impending burst of dispensing excitement with baby boomers on the verge of needing vision correction in a big way as presbyopia stiffened up their aging eyeballs. The big plans for this feast of eyecare activity were shared with baited anticipation by all involved in the science, art and instance of eyewear.

For a variety of reasons ranging from sociological to economical the feast never gained its data-induced momentum. Boomers pushed away from the table in a rare display of temperateness.

After years of getting every toy they wanted and buying every Mustang that Ford could spit out and turning fashion designers into demigods, the big babies decided to tread more slowly on the path to eyewear indulgence. They did figure out sunwear was a good thing for their image and their eyesight so that market witnessed intense activity, although not experienced exclusively by the optical dispenser as the consumer sought shades in other outlets including department stores, specialty stores, sport stores and kiosks along the New Jersey Turnpike.

Know me and you know I’m not easily swayed by deeds predicted by data. I prefer the harsh reality of miracles to metrics. But I think I’m experiencing a convergence of both as detected via a surge on the horizon, and this 20/20 reflects that swell in the growing category of spectacular spex we dub GenEYE.

There’s a vim and vigor to these GenEYE glasses. That glow and goodness that comes from the essence of youth defines this blossoming sector of the optical market. These are glasses driven to divinity by virtue of their devotion to numerous facets of modern culture: lifestyle, branding, media, movement, retro-regeneration and… here THEY come… baby boomers in their never ending quest to be forever young and one with any and all newly hatched generations.

Eyewear is HOT. Everyone wants to be “Hall of Frame”-ish. Ask Johnny Depp. Ask everyone’s fave rocker Butch Walker. Ask the models shooting pool in this issue. Ask Europa International with their amazing Cinzia frame on the cover. Ask me what frame you should get. Virtually everyone does these days as everyone seems to want glasses. Ask me, proud of my eyewear wardrobe and my gig on the cutting edge of a mag positioning eyewear EVERYWHERE.