Sports Eyewear

Keeping sports eyewear sales moving by blending new strategies and products gets winning results

By Amy Spiezio

Today's sports eyewear is pushing the envelope for performance by embracing new materials, expanded design parameters, and deepening lens awareness. By focusing on the specific needs of a diverse population of athletes, options for sunwear and ophthalmic eyewear with a distinctly sporty bent have dramatically increased, creating a whole new world of selling opportunity for eyecare practitioners working with almost any patient base.

HIGH-TECH OPTIONS

Athletic equipment is constantly improved, upgraded, and retooled with the latest technology. Golf clubs have moved over the years from basic wood choices to the latest in tungsten, titanium, stainless steel, bronze, beryllium copper, beryllium nickel, elastomer insert, and aluminum inserts as well as laminated maple. Likewise, bicycles have developed from heavy metal options to superlightweight steel, aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber machines.

So, too, is eyewear for professional and amateur competitors constantly updated to utilize the finest materials available on the market today. Many sports manufacturers have developed proprietary frame materials that meet specific needs, such as flexibility, strength, ventilation, and stability on the face.

One of eyewear material's newest crops is carbon fiber. Just as carbon fiber has swept through the competitive biking market, thanks to its toughness and light weight, the material is moving into eyewear for athletes because it is light and durable.

Photos, from top: Rudy Project's KarbonEye™ is made with carbon fiber, Kynetium, and ImpactX™ lens material; full rim and semirimless Izod styles 744 and 746 from ClearVision; Clean, no-bling Columbia style Elk Rock from L'Amy America

Eyewear tailored for women is on the rise. Shown: Nike style Athena from Marchon

Another side of technology that's just as important to sports fans is the lens. There are several typical sports sunwear lens choices:

1. Fixed color lenses. Popular with fishing afficionados, a strong frame with a tint that suits the depth of water, such as gray for total protection from full-on sun over deep blue water.

2. Photochromic lenses. Increasingly a favorite for golfers and bikers, lenses that can adapt quickly to changing light environments are key performance tools for those who play on mixed terrains.

3. Changeable lenses. Frame technology has developed in leaps and bounds recently, and a whole new crop of frames with sets of changeable lenses is available—and easy for individuals to use.

A TALE OF TWO OPTIONS

Frames shown (top): Oakley Square O styles Tumbler Rx ophthalmic and Sideways sunglass; (bottom): Smith Optics style Chemist and Chemist Sun Sports eyewear styling has been inconsistent in the past…sunwear models were designed not only for performance, but for cutting-edge style. But ophthalmic options for the sporty set often went more to the ruggedly conservative. However, second-pair sales just got a whole lot easier now that sports eyewear manufacturers are creating ophthalmic styles that take the colors, patterns, and style highlights from winning sports sunwear models. The options in this category encompass a full range of designs. For those who like their sun look, there are prescription-friendly crossovers that are exact reproductions which involve only fine-tuning to fit Rx lenses. Other Rx choices take notes from oversized sun styles and translate them into streamlined looks. When presenting eyewear, this new trend creates a whole new avenue for builtin second-pair discussions. Patients who love their sporty looks may just love to carry that style over into their everyday dressing; and those who always thought the big bold looks of ski- and surf-chic were a little over-the-top for their day-to-day fashions now have a look for the slopes and water and a toned-down choice for the streets and office.

DEMOGRAPHIC SPECIFICS

Today's sports eyewear choices may mean that ECPs have to make a little extra room in their displays for product—but the return on investment makes that a wise move. Rather than offer one-size-fits-all collections, sports eyewear manufacturers are increasingly customizing their lines to suit specific population groupings.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of this trend is women. While the performance factors such as balance, stability, and strength are there just like men's frames, the sportswomen's market is making tailored styles to suit women's smaller faces and different proportions. In addition, sporty women no longer have to look like one of the boys: New models on the market this season feature a softer color palette and feminine design details including Swarovski crystals.

For men and women who are getting a bit older, there are also sports options with a more mellow color range and progressive-friendly formats that keep the performance qualities that appeal to all athletes. EB