New York / Vision East Expo Day 4

With our heads full of exciting ideas from yesterday's day long workshop and evening festivities, we got up early to prepare for our full first day at the Javits Center.  We already had a series of appointments set up for the day, with them carefully spaced out to ensure that we had time for browsing and finding new collections and interesting items which we may want to bring back to Ocean.

Cold, clear bright morning

To get us set up for the day we grab a coffee and muffin in the Yotel - seriously if you want a cool place to stay while in NYC, definitely check it out!  The big advantage for us is that it is only ten minutes walk from the Yotel to Javits Center.  Perhaps this is a draw back, though, as just as happened in Paris in the Fall we arrive too early and the exhibition isn't even open yet!  I guess we're just too keen!

Drift Eyewear

We had a nice way to ease ourself into our day with our first appointment - Drift Eyewear.  This has been a fabulous collection for us, handmade in Chicago by some really cool people.  Like, seriously cool, I wish I was them, people.

Their new collection adds to the range of classic shapes and adds in a new colour for 2014.  It may not sound a lot, but with the frames made from bio-acetate fronts and reclaimed wood temples, they really don't need to do a lot to them.  

After catching up with the good folk from Drift, it was time to further delve into the Galleria area - this is definitely one of the highlights of the trip, to spend time immersed with a myriad of designers and manufacturers from around the world.  In this one area there are the more exclusive brands like Oliver Peoples and Alain Mikli, small independent luxury brands like L.G.R. and Eye Respect and cutting edge eyewear fashionistas like ic! berlin and Mykita.

Colourful and stylish as only the Italians can

It would be tempting to choose something from everyone in this area, however, when we are considering collections we have to make sure that they are a good fit for us.  One of the things we've been looking for is to find the perfect children's range.  So many of the children's frames currently seem to be miniature versions of adult frames, rather than having been designed with children in mind.

We were excited to have found Chick Eyewear when we were in Paris and it was time to view their new range just launched a few weeks before.  WOW! They were absolutely perfect, colourful in a European way, great shapes and fabulous material and construction.  It's so nice when something falls in to place so well and these children's frames absolutely were a perfect fit.

Our next appointment was with Jason Kirk to view the Savile Row frames.  These classic frames have been handmade in London, England, since 1932.  Synonymous with Harry Potter, John Lennon, Elton John and many more celebrities, the timeless elegance and quality of the 14K gold frames is unparalleled.  We have had enquiries about these frames since the day we opened, so now was the time to make the commitment to having a selection available all the time.

Catching up with Jason is also always fun.  He has a wealth of experience in eyewear design and has been the inspiration behind leading brands for years.  He has been involved with Savile Row for almost a year, however, what is very exciting is the upcoming launch of Kirk & Kirk, his new company.  We can't wait to see these in Paris.

ic! berlin - providing gluten free glasses for the masses

Our day was almost over, but there was still more appointment, with ic! berlin.  With a DJ knocking our some great tunes and Ralph Anderl, the owner, looking splendid in red ski pants and yeti boots, you know that any visit to ic! berlin is going to be exciting!

It never disappoints.  Our patients love ic! berlin and we now have people coming from out of province to us just to choose them.  Eric is great at going through the vast collection with us, helping select the best shapes and colours to bring back to Halifax to further enhance the selection which we provide.

The day was ended with a short stroll back to the Yotel, a beautiful meal in their new restaurant where we enjoyed a tapas like approach, but with an East meets West fusion and then on to the Loft.  You'll find out all about the Loft in the next blog, but this was more like the night before the day after.  Each year the Loft holds a party, strictly by invitation and we were the lucky holders of some invitations!  The night wound down with a little light rain not spoiling the perfect New York rooftop view!

The perfect NYC rooftop skyline view - thanks to the Loft