NEW YORK—Colleagues, customers and friends turned out on a (very) warm summer evening in New York earlier this month to mark the 35th anniversary of Robert Marc Eyewear.

At a celebration at his first store, on the Upper West Side’s Columbus Avenue, guests mingled and examined Marc’s newest collections as the luxury optical retailer and designer reminisced a bit.

Marc opened his first shop in 1981 in NYC, one of the first high-end boutiques to bring eyeglasses to the forefront of fashion. After designing and consulting on many successful premier eyewear collections, Robert Marc launched his own signature collection of eyewear in 1999, reflecting a vision toward the modern, classic and instantly recognizable.

Robert Marc was inducted into the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA )in 2001 and is now also a member of the group’s new eyewear designers (eCFDA) division. The Accessories Council honored him in 2011 with a Visionary ACE (Accessories Council Excellence) Award, recognizing his meaningful contributions to the fashion eyewear world.