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| New Lines and Launches...
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Essilor Expands Crizal Sun Tints Line
DALLAS--Essilor of America (EOA) has expanded its new line of Crizal Sun lenses with the addition of Crizal Sun Tints, so eyecare professionals can now offer patients more colors in four grades.
“Previously, Crizal Sun was available only on polarized and Transitions lenses. With Crizal Sun Tints, we have expanded the product line to additional Essilor lens materials, giving more options to consumers and greater flexibility to our eyecare professionals in what sunwear products they offer their patients,” said Carl Bracy, vice president of marketing for EOA.
The Sun Tint colors include grey, grey green, brown and black in grades 0 to 3 and employ the technology of Crizal Alizé. The front side of the Crizal Sun lens has the Alizé hardcoat and super-hydrophobic layers, while the back contains both of these layers, in addition to the Crizal Alizé anti-reflective layer. Crizal Sun is integrated into the lens, so it won't wear or peel off over time, according to Essilor.
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Getting An Eyefull
As the lens industry booms, more and more lens options become available. Does polarization really make that big a difference? Anti-reflective or not? Most customers need to see it to believe it. But how is a retailer supposed to keep their lens options and treatments neat and display them to their customers. Well Western Optical has come up with a solution, the Eyefull Tower Rotating Tinted Lens Display. This rotating display showcases 32 different lens options and measures in at 15” high by 8” in diameter, making it ideal for most counters. |
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What Goes Around Comes Around
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Retro Redux
In fashion there is only one underlying truth – everything old is new again. Designers are constantly drawing inspiration from bygone eras to re-invent for modern times and eyewear is no exception. Whether companies are delving into their archives to release limited edition inventories from years gone by, manufacturing new frames to old specifications or borrowing design details to give high-tech contemporary designs a vintage feel you can be sure that retro is all the rage.
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24-Year Old Golf Sensation Hits the Greens With Adidas
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Adidas Eyewear Signs LPGA Pro Natalie Gulbis
GREEN ISLAND, N.Y.--Adidas Eyewear reached a sponsorship agreement with 24- year old Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) pro Natalie Gulbis.
Gulbis, who already has a sponsorship agreement with Adidas apparel, will compete in the LPGA Tour wearing the Adidas Adilibria sunglass and is now Adidas eyewear's top-ranked female golfer and a key brand ambassador for Adidas' golf-specific eyewear.
“Gulbis has been part of the Adidas family for five years and eyewear completes her Adidas equipment on the course,” said Jeff Ravreby, U.S. brand manager for Adidas eyewear. “We feel very fortunate to sponsor a rising star who truly believes in our product.”
And Adidas' sponsorship of Gulbis couldn't be timelier. Over the past seven years, women's participation in golf has increased 52 percent. This tremendous growth is largely attributed to players such as Gulbis who have popularized the sport among younger girls.
Gulbis's career highlights include seven top-ten finishes in 2006, 12 top-ten finishes in 2005, and four top-ten appearances in her rookie campaign in 2002. At the University of Arizona, Gulbis was awarded All-American in her freshman year.
Off the course, Gulbis stars in her own reality TV show, “The Natalie Gulbis Show,” on the Golf Channel and provides insight into her life away from golf. She operates her own on-line store, has a successful modeling career with her fifth calendar to hit stands this year, and manages her own daily blog,
www.nataliegulbis.com, that engages people in the golf community. Her sponsors include 24 Hour Fitness, Anheuser Busch, The SEMGroup, Canon, MasterCard, TaylorMade, Adidas and now Adidas eyewear. |
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How One Little Sunglass Did Its Part |
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| One Doctor + Two Companies = $150,000 for Breast Cancer Research
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y--Usually the Sun Star's section of Sun Advisor is reserved for the profile of a retailer who is doing something new and noteworthy in their sunwear business, but every once in a while totally different kinds of “stars” cross our path. ClearVision Optical, the BCBG Max Azria Group and Dr. Jean Holt from San Antonio, Texas are just those kinds of stars.
Their story starts with the launch of the limited edition Breast Cancer Pink BCBG Max Azria Ceres sunglass from ClearVision Optical at this year's Vision Expo East. ClearVision created only 700 pieces of the BCBG Max Azria frame in pink and donated 100 percent of the wholesale price to raise $35,000 for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.
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The Breast Cancer Pink BCBG Max Azria Ceres sunglass from ClearVision Optical to benefit the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund.
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“Breast Cancer is a very important issue,” said Max Azria, designer, chairman and CEO of the BCBG Max Azria Group. “This disease does not discriminate. It affects women of all ages. It's devastating. I hope that this collaborative contribution will help the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund in their efforts to fulfill their vital mission.”
“Breast Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in every ethnic group in the U.S.,” added David Friedfeld, president of ClearVision. “This disease needs immediate attention and research in order to find a cure.“
A week after the launch of the special frame, ClearVision's sales consultant for the San Antonio, Texas area, Sherrilyn Miele, visited the office of ophthalmologist Jean Holt, MD. Dr. Holt, who was on the board for the Women in Medicine and Law for The Cure fourth annual dinner scheduled to take place that Thursday night, asked for one of the “Breast Cancer Pink” sunglasses to auction off at the event. ClearVision was able to provide the sunglass, which retails for $125, to Dr. Holt in time for the dinner where it was auctioned off for $285. The Women in Medicine and Law for The Cure event as a whole raised over $115,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation to benefit a specified restricted medical research grant on breast cancer.
“Our organization is particularly proud of the fact that we have a less than 10 percent cost to donation ratio expense,” said Dr. Holt. “After that, 100 percent of the funds raised go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Although none of the steering committee members is a breast cancer survivor, we meet with survivors all the time and are touched by the sisterhood. It's rewarding to work together for a common cause.”
Due to the clever-thinking, cooperation and generosity and of these three “stars,” two worthwhile organizations benefited and over $150,000 was raised to combat breast cancer.
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The board of the Women in Medicine and Law for The Cure fourth annual dinner in San Antonio, Texas holding their check to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
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Transitions Polls Over 10,000 Worldwide on Eye Health |
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Global Survey Reveals Lack of Awareness of Risks to Healthy Sight
MILAN–--During the MIDO Exhibition, Transitions Optical announced the results of a global survey on healthy sight awareness and understanding in the general public. The survey revealed a consistent lack of awareness of UV and other risks to healthy sight; it convincingly demonstrated quality of vision concerns, and highlighted a need for education on preventive eye health.
“Healthy sight is about optimizing quality of vision for today and preserving eye health and well being for the future,” said Bette Zaret, vice president, global strategic marketing for Transitions Optical. “Healthy sight is a global issue, so efforts to study awareness of healthy sight and to promote its implementation worldwide must also be global in scope. Transitions Optical conducted this global research to uncover what the public knows about healthy sight and what steps they actually take to protect their healthy sight for life.”
 The comprehensive global survey was conducted with more than 10,000 individuals in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. and was reported with additional results from Australia and Japan. The survey was carried out by means of phone interviews with a nationally representative minimum sample size of 1,000 people, age 18 or over, in each country.
In Europe and South Africa, IPSOS Health fielded the survey. Some of the key findings revealed that only 9 percent of respondents from the U.S. reported they were aware of the harmful effects of extended sun exposure damage to the eyes, which ties the U.S. in third place with Portugal and Italy, behind South Africa (16 percent), Australia (15 percent) and Japan (12 percent). Twenty percent of respondents in the U.S. erroneously believe that UV radiation damage is reversible. Only respondents in Germany (16 percent) and Brazil (5 percent) were more aware of the permanency of UV damage on the eyes. Ironically, South Africa, ranked number one in awareness of the harmful effects of sun exposure to the eyes, but they ranked last of all 10 countries polled for awareness of permanency of that UV damage to the eyes. Lastly, only little more than half (55 percent) of the respondents from the U.S. request lenses that provide UVR protection when purchasing eyewear.
At the press conference held during MIDO, Transitions Optical global medical director, Susan Stenson, MD, FACS, explained, “This global survey reveals that the general public is largely unaware of important risks to their healthy sight, such as chronic exposure to UV radiation or the impact of certain medications, and that consequently they are not doing all they can to protect their quality of vision or long-term eye health, for example asking for UV- protective lens options.
“This global survey provides important insights into the need for a comprehensive approach to vision care where prescribers and the dispensing opticians consider the individual as well as the individual's eyes, taking into account specific demographic, medical and lifestyle issues, and leading to the generation of the customized eyeglass prescription, where, in addition to vision correction, quality of vision and long-term ocular health are also addressed.” Dr. Stenson added, “If prescribers, as well as dispensing opticians are to be healthy sight counselors and help to ensure a lifetime of healthy sight for the public, we can look to this study to see how education has a fundamental role to play.”
“This research shows that we as an industry have a lot of work to do in educating the public and raising awareness of healthy sight,” Transitions' Zaret concluded.
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Percentage of Respondents
Who
Are Aware of the Harmful
Effects of Extended Sun Exposure |
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Skin Damage |
Eye Damage |
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United States |
88% |
9% |
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France |
92% |
4% |
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United Kingdom |
90% |
5% |
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Germany |
94% |
2% |
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Italy |
86% |
9% |
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Spain |
90% |
5% |
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Portugal |
90% |
9% |
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South Africa |
68% |
16% |
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Brazil |
88% |
3% |
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Singapore |
94% |
6% |
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Japan |
87% |
12% |
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Australia |
87% |
15% |
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Percentage of Respondents
Who Incorrectly Believe
UV Radiation Damage Is Reversible |
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United States |
20% |
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France |
37% |
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United Kingdom |
28% |
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Germany |
16% |
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Italy |
63% |
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Spain |
46% |
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Portugal |
39% |
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South Africa |
67% |
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Brazil |
5% |
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Singapore |
29% |
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New Lines and Launches... |
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Costa Del Mar
Costa Del Mar introduced three new sunglass styles, the Cin, the Daphnes and the Isabela, to its women's performance line. Featuring larger-eye designs and in-laid stainless steel watermarks, the new frames offer a contemporary look combined with the functionality of polarized lens technology with a more narrow and comfortable fit designed to complement a woman's face. Available in black, tortoise and mahogany fade, the Cin, Daphnes and Isabela sunglasses come with CR-39, glass Costa 400 or Costa 580 lenses available in an array of colors, including gray, amber, vermillion, sunrise, and blue and green mirror. Like other Costa Del Mar sunglasses, these new frames feature Megol nose pads and the Omega spring hinge.
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Jean Paul Gaultier
After a 10-year absence, Jean Paul Gaultier eyewear has made its appearance in the North America eyewear market with a launch from Fusion Eyewear. Embodying extravagant haute couture design reflecting the “enfant terrible” mood the designer is so well known for, the Italian-made line is targeted to the international and fashion driven customer looking for an iconic product. The collection includes 17 sunwear styles, for both men and women, in metal, acetate and metal acetate/combinations. The collection borrows details from some of the designer's infamous earlier designs, like visible springs in the temples, and some styles feature Swarovski crystal embellishments and metal embellishments such as the Gaultier logo.
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Julbo
Julbo, 119-year-old French eyewear manufacturer, has unveiled their latest innovation, the Zebra lens. The NXT photochromic lens adapts to varying light conditions from Category 2 (59 percent visible light coverage) in low light conditions to Category 4 (95 percent visible light coverage) in harsh light. Since the Zebra becomes 50 percent darker in as little as 30 seconds, it is ideal for riding or hiking between tree covered trails and wide open valleys and in addition, has an anti-fog treatment to improve performance and visibility. The Zebra is available in seven of Julbo's styles including the Nomad, Advance, Instinct, Magic, Race, Addict and Deep.
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Optical Shop of Aspen
Optical Shop of Aspen presented the new Chrome Hearts Eyewear Collection, a nod to couture rocker chic inspired by the essence of rock and roll with guitar influenced design elements and materials. Temple end pieces and .925 sterling silver components are fashioned in the shape of guitar picks, while mother of pearl has been inlayed into exotic wood temples to provide a hand made guitar fret board feeling. The collection consists of aviators, navigators, and zyl styles, while feminine shapes abound and new colors are introduced. Front frames of aviators are titanium with coined edge repeating fleur de lis motifs and different temple material options.
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Smith
Smith Optics has rolled out the limited edition Bellaire, a hybrid material frame with a high performance CR39 lens. Available only for summer 2007, the metal frame is combined with a stylishly rounded rectangular acetate face front and temple tips. The Bellaire features CR-39 lenses and an 8-base lens curve featuring Smith's proprietary Tapered Lens Technology (TLT), a precise thinning of the lens from the center to the edges that eliminates optical distortion. Available in black gold frames with gray lenses or bronze tortoise frames with brown lenses, the Bellaire's lenses provide 100 percent protection from harmful UVA, UVB, and UVC rays, and come protected by a lifetime warranty. |
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Under Armour
Under Armour, the sport performance apparel company, has launched a sunwear collection through Eyeking, called Performance Eyewear for sport enthusiasts. The collection features lens technology that gives athletes a wider range of peripheral vision and a cushioned temple hinge that depletes shock and creates a custom-like fit for superior vision, strength, and comfort. Some of the 11 sunglass styles are engineered for specific sports, like baseball, softball, and running, while other styles are versatile enough to perform across multiple sports, and contain Advanced Peripheral Vision (APV), a patented technology that eliminates peripheral distortion and provides up to 20 percent more vision in the periphery. Built with a material that fuses titanium, for lightness and strength, with grilamid, for durability and flexibility, Under Armour eyewear utilizes an innovative anti-bounce nose bridge and a three-point grip system for a non-slip fit.
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