(L to R) VSP’s Robyn Crimmins, OWA vice president; Safilo’s Tiara Claxton, OWA president and two new members from VSP, Maria Santopoalo and Alexis Woelfel.
DALLAS—The Optical Women’s Association (OWA) has been on the road hosting regional networking events and their the latest stop on Oct. 5 was at THALĒ BLANC on Melrose Place in West Hollywood, Calif. Sponsored by VSP, Deborah Sawaf, president and creative director of THALĒ BLANC hosted the event for the OWA and The Accessories Council.

Guests were treated to handcrafted cocktails, wine and hors d’ oeuvres with the

Tiara Claxton (c) with two new L.A. OWA members, Joanne Butler, Kering Eyewear and optician Laura Friedman, Dan Deutsch Optical Outlook.
opportunity to meet designers, manufacturers and marketing managers from the accessory and optical industries. Tiara Claxton, OWA president, Safilo USA Western States Luxury Sales, spoke on the benefits and opportunities with the OWA and shared her own journey through the optical industry. She invited guests to be a part of this fast-growing organization through membership for women, and for men as “Individual Contributors.”


De Rigo REM’s Donna Gindy, Susy Adzhimanukyan, Meghan Gibson, Gilda Mehraban and Samantha Fasulo.
​
Sawaf shared her story of the THALĒ BLANC brand development along with her personal charity called Happy and her community outreach with the Make a Wish Foundation. The evening inspired many new members to join and contribute to the OWA.

Karen Giberson, president of The Accessories Council, and Robyn Crimmins, senior director, Marketing & Commercial Operations VSP, were instrumental in the coordination and execution of the evening event.



Visit www.opticalwomen.com to find future regional OWA events.



(Left): The De Rigo REM Eyewear team all joined the OWA during the event and Safilo’s Tiara Claxton (l) looks on as Karen Giberson, president of The Accessories Council addresses the crowd.