Shane Baum, Christian Roth, Selima Salaun, Gai Gherardi and Blake Kuwahara
Christian Roth
Coco Dotson and Breezy Dotson
“Eyewear is Fashion. We are trying to close the gap between eyewear and fashion.” Those were my introductory words at Vision Expo New York, where I, along with eight of my fellow CFDA eyewear designers, inaugurated the first edCFDA Showcase.
The Showcase’s aim was to represent the craft and importance of CFDA’s eyewear designers, and strengthen the influence of American Eyewear Designers globally. In addition to the Christian Roth brand, participating designers were Blake Kuwahara, Daniel Silberman for Illesteva, Gai Gherardi for l.a.Eyeworks,, Jeff Press for Morgenthal Frederics, Patty Perreira for Barton Perreira, Robert Marc, Selima Salaun for Selima Optique, and Shane Baum for Leisure Society.
The event goal: An exchangeof energy. We each had our own display towers showcasing the latest collections, and were able to do personal meet-and-greets and share insights on our work as well as answer any questions during Friday’s event. Fashion influencers Cindy Weber Cleary, Jenny Capitain, and Freddie Leiba served as guests of honor. The high gloss images they produce go around the world and are viewed by millions of consumers—making eyewear so desirable and putting our product category on top of everyone’s must-haves list.
The Showcase event was sponsored by Vision Expo and The Vision Council of America, with media Sponsors: 20/20 Magazine and Eyecare Business.
It was a big success, with top attendance from American and international retailers, consumer and trade media, and other designers.
