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AN EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING

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20/20 VP, EDITOR-IN CHIEFJAMES SPINA

20/20 EXECUTIVE EDITORJACKIE MICUCCI

20/20 FEATURE EDITORSUPPLEMENT EDITOR

GLORIA NICOLA

ART DIRECTORIRIS JOHNSON

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORBARBARA WINTERS

CONTRIBUTORSMELISSA ARKIN

MARGE AXELRAD

DEIRDRE CARROLL

MARY KANE

LAUREN TAYLOR

EVENT PRODUCERNANCY NESS

MARKETINGCHRISTINE YEH

AMANDA JENSEN

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20/20 PUBLISHERJIM VITKUS

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4 ESCADA from Viva International Group

6 FRED from Premiere Vision

8 LANVIN from Cachet/ A Division of L’Amy America

10 ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA from Viva International Group

12 CONRAD from SALT.

13 Stepping UpTo The Luxury Market

14 A Lavish Experience

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2 0 / 2 0 M A G A Z I N E A N D V I S I O N M O N D A Y P R E S E N T

C O V E R A N D F E A T U R E P H O T O G R A P H Y M A R K B A B U S H K I N

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Photographed by MARK BABUSHKIN; Senior Features Editor: GLORIA NICOLA; Trend Setting: JAMES J. SPINA; Hair/Makeup: BRYAN LYNDE/R.J. BENNETT REPRESENTS; Stylist: TINA LATONERO/R.J. BENNETT REPRESENTS; Models: ELIZABETH/MAJOR MODEL MANAGEMENT; JONATHAN WHITE/I MODEL AND TALENT; MICHAEL V/MSA

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You Are My SunshineDeluxe enchantment is making a giant statement that is equally subtle, richly reflective and yet inclinated to a totally forward fashion vision. It is eyewear owing nothing to anyone— accepting praise by virtue of its ability to stun even in the sun.

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Deluxe eyewear is a contemporary

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D E L U X E E D I T I O N 13

By Marge Axelrad

Experts who monitor the luxury marketplace use the same adjectives to describe and define the characteristics of ‘luxury’ whether they are describing upscale hotels, fine wine, jewelry, automobiles or accessories.

Exclusivity. The finest materials. Premium high qual-ity and craftsmanship. Service excellence. Symbols of status. ‘Anti-status’ status.

Today, the allure of luxury or the “realm of the rari-fied” is more accessible to more people around the world than its traditional standard-bearers among wealthy families, royalty and the titans of industry. Consumer affluence, the impact of media, an expand-ing awareness of “lifestyles of the rich and famous” plus the sophistication of distribution and licensing are all contributing to extend opportunities within luxury.

And eyewear and sunwear are more than ever rais-ing their visibility in luxury’s realm. Sunglasses and premium eyeglasses, and retailers and eyecare provid-ers focused on the top-of-the-premium category, are increasingly being referred to as the “entry point” to the luxury arena. Designer and luxury accessories are taking center stage.

When The Luxury Institute, a New York-based group, surveyed wealthy Americans for its proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI), it queried respon-dents about luxury brands along four main “pillars” of brand stature. As defined by the LBSI, these include: consistent superior quality, unique and exclusive, so-cial status as a product consumed by people who are admired and respected, and self-enhancement—in that the brand makes the consumer “feel special” across all aspects of the customer experience.

This year, the U.S. economy has been buffeted by many forces, causing several market observers and retailers to rethink their approaches toward the luxury market.

In one of her latest reports, luxury market analyst Pam Danziger wrote that while the luxury market will re-bound from the current climate, the luxury consumer, particularly the ‘aspiring luxury’ consumer, is impact-

ed. “This will place tremendous competitive pressure on luxury companies and retailers, as they face a newly resistant affluent consumer with a mindset to hold onto their cash, rather than spend it,” says Danziger, presi-dent of Unity Marketing.

In addition, as Time’s Style & Design recent Global Luxury Survey made note, “No one is immune to the dramatic changes in the global economy over the past six months. Concerns about the environment and an increasing sense of social responsibility have fostered a new consciousness among consumers. These larger forces necessitate a new attitude toward luxury, one that is being redefined… luxury and eco-awareness do not have to be mutually exclusive.”

Clearly, there are many new forces shaping today’s luxury marketplace. But within it all is a customer seg-ment that demands service, product knowledge and com-mitment to reconfirm his or her purchasing experience.

Luxury Market Stepping Up To The

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Offering a blend of unique environ-ments, highly trained salespeople and premium service, today’s luxury eyewear retailers are optimistic about their growth prospects, despite the daunting economy.

Targeting a discriminating customer who is looking not just for exclusivity but also a high degree of per-sonal attention and service, the tier of optical boutiques and specialty retailers who are seeing success today are cognizant of the role they play in defining the market for that customer.

“Numbers have been steady—the higher you go, the steadier it gets,” says Ed Beiner of Edward Beiner Purveyors of Fine Eyewear, one of the country’s leading high-end retailers, with nine stores throughout Miami and Southern/Central Florida. “We’re seeing transac-tions haven’t diminished, though fashion tastes are shift-ing—people are looking for new and distinctive things.”

Beiner continues to focus on remodeling and “pol-ishing” the stores, noting that the company’s Aventura Mall store is being completely revamped. “We always want to keep pushing upwards. Our customers travel and they see other stores. Many of our stores are posi-tioned in such a place that they lead to impulse buying. Our POP and advertising materials are emphasizing that; we want to increase our ophthalmic Rx business. Two of our locations offer doctor services now and we’re planning to increase the number of those. Our staff is also merchandising forward the unique and different collections we offer.”

Highlighting exclusives, but recognizing the growing importance brands have with luxury consumers is the Gruen operation in the New York metro area. Mitch Barkley, president of Ross Holdings, which acquired

Gruen nearly one year ago, says the group will have nine stores by October including the Optyx store in Southampton, N.Y., and their newest location on New York’s Madison Avenue using the Optyx by Gruen identity.

The Gruen boutiques have been putting sunglasses into more visible positions throughout the stores, helping to boost sales of the category in addition to a strong business in ophthalmic. The company sells some brands exclusively in New York, such as the luxury Alviero Martini 1A Classe collection, and is a Cartier dealer. In addition it showcases high-end brands like Chanel, Bulgari and Gucci. “We believe that total optical services are important. We’ve just hired our fourth optometrist and now virtually all of our locations offer doctor services. We believe the whole professional side is a key element of the luxury business. With our opticians, we spend a lot of time training and improv-ing how we explain premium lens options to our customers.”

At Ilori, Luxottica’s luxury sunwear retail group, vice president and general manager, Michael Hansen, under-scores the overall role of luxury in helping to redefine the eyewear category in the mind of today’s discriminating

A Lavish ExperienceLuxury Eyewear Focuses on Selection, Atmosphere and ServiceBy Marge Axelrad

D E L U X E E D I T I O N 15

luxury consumer. Ilori has 13 stores to date and plans to open five more by year’s end.

“We see a paradigm shift,” Hansen notes. “What the hand-bag and shoe industry has done is now happening with the eye-wear and sunwear category. This is an important accessory which hadn’t operated in that realm. Now we are seeing ma-

terials, design, technology and interpretations that lend so much interest to the category, it is helping that story become real.”

Ilori takes a “curator” approach to its selection with “voice of Ilori” walls and windows to highlight collec-tion pieces and special series. Today, Hansen says lim-ited-edition or special-edition pieces are an important part of creating a special experience for the customer. These are now showcased in a special fixture with ac-companying information “like a gallery” that describes these pieces’ unique features.

Ilori, now marking its first-year anniversary as a new chain, continues to seek “the most high-profile luxury destinations in North America” for its expansion. The stores’ design employs modern luxury materials to house “eyewear as treasures” while the customer service experience “remains paramount.”

The Luxury Optical Holdings (LOH) group focuses on more than one definition of “luxury.” President Pierre Keyser, who oversees the group’s 55 locations, emphasizes that while the overriding concept employs exclusive and selective product and superlative levels of service, the group, which has grown via both acqui-sition and organic expansion, is now concentrating on three distinct approaches within the arena.

These include Optica, the majority of the stores, “which heralds back to the original Optica of the ’80s,

the ultimate optical salon with an emphasis on oph-thalmic, great service—the Four Seasons concept of luxury. The Optica concept is open and elegant, showcasing the finest products, materials and envi-ronment,” notes Keyser.

New for LOH is Scene, a “lively” and “fresh” concept described by Keyser as featuring lighter color bamboo floors and white and yellow designs. It’s an attention-drawing approach “geared to attract that impulsive buyer, on her way to Neiman’s and Nordstrom, who sees a beautiful assortment in an inviting, fun, mod-ern, easy atmosphere,” he says. There are currently six Scene stores in the group, with others on the way.

Finally, there is Morgenthal-Frederic, “the top, the ‘Hermes’ of optical, a bit more traditional, elegant, sophisticated—a beautiful concept, a tiny footprint, the top of the top,” Keyser notes, adding, “The con-cept is that of an old Parisian optician, where you come in, you sit down and you are shown the product. The Morgenthal stores sell 85 percent of their own collec-tion in addition to other selective lines like Cartier, Barton-Perreira and Chrome Hearts. We’ve created a shop-in-shop concept for Morgenthal that we feature in some of our Optica stores.”

Scene stores sell a higher proportion of sun to Rx, a ratio Keyser estimates at 70/30 while the mix at Optica stores is approximately 50 percent to 60 percent sun to 50 percent to 40 percent ophthlamic, while Morgenthal-Frederics’ sales swing more predominantly to 80 percent Rx/20 percent sun.“The environments vary and the cus-tomers are different,” adds Keyser.

“In the luxury market, the key is to educate that cus-tomer on lenses, frames, everything,” says Keyser. We want our customers to talk about their experience with someone else. If someone hasn’t bought eyewear in a few years and is not familiar with the trends now, we want them to know if they spend $1,000 why they did and feel good about it.”

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