WASHINGTON, D.C.—There is a lot of talk about products, ideas and innovations that sit at “intersections,” forging new worlds by bridging the gap between two markets. But no matter what, nothing new could ever occupy that intersection between science and style the way eyewear does. Fashion, health and technology are the pillars of good eyewear—and sometimes it can feel like our industry deserves more credit for finding that perfect balance when creating truly good eyewear.

For Georgetown Optician in Washington, D.C., the rise of AI technology provided the perfect canvas to showcase that vital intersection, while reflecting the retail’s own pioneering spirit.

To celebrate its Spring 2023 collections, Georgetown Optician partnered with Design Army to create “Adventures in A-EYE,” a new experimental ad campaign made entirely with AI technology. The campaign combines the worlds of science and style in the same way eyewear as a whole does, and uses that base to tell a story of futuristic travelers visiting a fictional planet full of extra-terrestrial delights. The campaign launched for Spring 2023, but will continue throughout the year.

Georgetown Optician’s Pierce Voorthuis explained to Vision Monday, “This campaign is scheduled to be a year-long campaign, but we envision it to have several chapters or episodes that line up with different seasons. The power of the story is that we can take the campaign to new worlds that line up with entirely fresh themes. The imagination really is the limit on where we go next.”


Adventures in A-EYE takes viewers on a futuristic journey.

Georgetown Optician’s collection of unique eyewear from brands such as Jacques Marie Mage, Anne et Valentin, Cartier, Mykita, Kirk and Kirk, Garrett Leight, and many more are carefully curated throughout the campaign. Voorthuis said, “We want our followers to get a full flavor of our offerings, but we also want them to be emboldened and inspired by our unique offerings. We focus on eyewear that sparks that imagination.”

About the campaign, he said, “Exploring the creativity of eyewear is one of our founding passions. Adventures in A-EYE showcases some of our most exciting and innovative products and marries it with a brand new way of storytelling through AI-generated landscapes and models. Georgetown Optician has always been about presenting our customers with some of the most unique eyewear from around the world, this campaign continues to tell that story using our most imaginative technique yet.”

The campaign was created in collaboration with Design Army, a D.C.-based design agency. Voorthuis told VM, “Working with Design Army is a dream, the creative team lives and breaths our products, and were clients before we started working together. They understand our DNA.”


Georgetown Optician’s collection are carefully curated throughout the campaign. Here, Anne & Valentin (l) and Cartier.

Pum Lefebure, co-founder and chief creative officer of Design Army echoed Voorthuis’ sentiment. “I love that this is a new beginning of creative possibilities! And I’m proud that—in working with AI—we never lost our sense of creativity and craft. We didn’t let AI control us. The project itself is a journey for Design Army.

"As an agency that’s been shooting (real life) campaigns for over 15 years, we wanted to see if we could take our audience on an imaginary trip to a new far-off land—without our whole team actually visiting ‘Pink Mars.’ We wanted to see if these images can be as captivating and memorable as our work from previous campaigns.”

Adventures in A-EYE excels at its goal, showcasing the beauty and future of eyewear in a showstopping, futuristic way. It frames our current season while looking toward our future. Voorthuis concluded, “We hope this campaign catches and captivates our social followers, but also continues to make a name for ourselves as a cultivator of unique and quality eyewear.

"Utilizing AI technology feels like a way to break through some of the traditional noise of classic campaigns and harness and explore these unique tools to tell a fresh story. We want our followers and clients to feel as inspired and excited about eyewear as we do and utilizing AI is an exciting tool to do so.”

Adventures in A-EYE is presented on Georgetown Optician’s website and Instagram account here. The campaign includes both still imagery and short form videos showcasing the eyewear in AI. To celebrate the launch, Georgetown Optician hosted a special event on March 30 at its newest location at The Wharf, welcoming eyewear lovers on their own adventure through AI.


The Georgetown Optician team hosted an event at its newest location at The Wharf to celebrate the campaign with customers and eyewear lovers. (Far right) Pierce Voorthuis (l) and Juliette Voorthuis Pashpurov, district manager of Georgetown Optician, helped kick off the campaign.