The energy was palpable—and most certainly omnipresent—at the long-awaited and much-anticipated Vision Expo East show in New York City last month. Reconnection, inspiration, community—it is a show that I, personally, was incredibly grateful to attend—and won’t soon forget.

The thing that was so striking to me as our team made the rounds for meetings, appointments, and product previews was the incredible stream of creativity and innovation unleashed in eyewear design and lens technologies. It was as if, somehow, the pandemic’s quarantines and lockdowns and isolation had ushered in a completely fresh and revitalized perspective for the designers, brand managers, and engineers of this great industry.

Each collection and product debut seemed mindfully envisioned, lovingly prepared, and enticingly presented. Even the show’s parties and events—and even the après scene around town—were an uninhibited celebration.

Perhaps the 21st century is literally having its own “Roaring ’20s” right now, as we speak.

Nowhere was the creative energy more evident than at the high end of the product spectrum. Luxe specs design was off the charts with boundary-busting creativity—with wildly oversized (and sometimes inverted) silhouettes, whiplash-causing, larger-than-life details and logos, and color saturations that could make a grown (wo)man misty-eyed. Joy? Yes, we’ll take it.

Just like with the ubiquitous, incredibly deep, saturated brights infusing the fashion season right now, the luxury eyewear arena is serving up purely unexpected design filled with drama and surprise.

Yet, still, somehow…Perfectly. Wearable.

In this issue, we curate a few of our favorite (luxury) things for our The Avant-Garde high-end eyewear fashion feature, starting on page 34.

And, in our Premium Lens Presentation feature starting on page 44, we tap two high-end expert ECPs to divulge their best strategies on the topic.

For a real, luxurious treat, step into our exclusive Cut + Color Q+A on page 50 with Haitian-American fashion designer Victor Glemaud, who dishes on his spectacular, new eyewear collection with Tura focused on fit and style for women of color.

We hope you enjoy the issue!

TRENDING VIDEO > TOUR THE ISSUE WITH EB’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Erinn Morgan,
Editor-in-Chief + Editorial Director
Director of Social Media, PentaVision