Monday, July 02, 2007

Just the Specs

Eye on: Lense wear.

Seems like everyone these days is jumping into the shades market to boost sales and brand awareness. This year we saw the intro of Juicy and Betsey Johnson frames and in just the past two weeks alone, several major fashion players have announced that they will introduce lines including Jimmy Choo, who will launch a line of sunglasses and prescription frames in January, Cole Haan and Lily Pulitzer, who will both enter the category in spring '08, and Alessandro Dell'Acqua, who will be the first of this group to hit market in fall '07.

"Eyewear is really a natural for the brand," said Joshua Schulman, ceo of Jimmy Choo. "It can be an iconic sexy product that our customer can relate to really well. Our customer loves luxury and sexy products."Plus, execs really love sales boosts. Be on the lookout.