f ro m t h e e d i t o r
Are You Ahead of the Curve?
We are nearing the end of 2013 and what an amazing year it has been in the eyewear industry.
This year we saw companies take innovation and technology in new directions.
This was one of the major themes at Vision Expo West this past October in Las Vegas.
As I walked the floors of the Sands Expo it was easy to see the future of eyewear and how
technology is making it easier than ever to treat diseases and develop the best lenses and
frames for wearers.
From a machine that will print 3D models of frames so wearers and eyecare providers
will know exactly what a pair will look like before it’s manufactured to frames made from
every material imaginable, it’s an exciting time for eyewear.
One of the other great influencers on the eyewear industry this year was the growing
number of companies using celebrity spokespeople to sell their products. Once only reserved
for clothing lines, this has expanded tremendously to accessories like eyewear.
This year alone we saw faces such as Lisa Loeb, Cal Ripken Jr., Darius Rucker,
Bill Nye The Science Guy, Willie Nelson and more recently Cate Blanchett,
don a pair of glasses as an official spokesperson.
Does this mean that eyewear will now take its place as a major
player in the fashion industry? Absolutely!!! Gone are the days when
eyewear was for people diagnosed with poor vision.
Today eyewear is a highly sought after fashion commodity and
wearers want top brands and want to wear what their favourite
celebrity is wearing. It also means that for companies to take centre
stage in the brand obsessed world of fashion, they are going to have
to spend more e