Buyer's Forum
Color Me Cool
Marcy Bruch, Executive Editor, Frames and Retail

So I'm sitting in this chi chi restaurant with my friends enjoying a beautiful summer day, when in walks this guy wearing rimless blue-tinted eyewear. He bellies up to the bar confidently and orders a Belvedere martini. When he decides to order a meal, of course it's the best dish in the house. I could tell right away the guy was plugged into what's happening, and knew how to unearth the best that's out there. In a word, he was cool.

So smitten was Carly Simon by a guy like him, she wrote a song in his honor, You're So Vain. That doesn't mean the hip among us are all bad. Quite the contrary. Thanks to our trend-conscious friends, we find out about garage bands on the brink of fame, sample European desserts like apricot and walnut varenikis (Ukrainian dessert dumplings), and enjoy sleeper movies we'd normally never see. What would the world be like without discovering these hidden treasures? A little less colorful to be sure.

Perhaps that's why it's no accident that many of the hip are identifiable through their colorful eyewear. And don't be fooled, they come in all ages. Obviously, they proliferate among those in their 20s and 30s. But don't forget that baby boomers are otherwise known as aging hipsters. Even 70-something Joan Rivers kicked up her coolness wearing tinted eyewear recently on the red carpet. So whenever you identify customers that look with it, make sure you present them with lens-tinted eyewear that reflects their image. Color them cool and everyone will recognize them for what they are as soon as they walk through the door.