SÀFILO SIGNS WITH TOMMY HILFIGER Sàfilo Group and the Tommy Hilfiger Group have signed a global eyewear licensing agreement valid until 2015 with an optional five-year extension.

This agreement is for the exclusive design, development, production and distribution of Tommy Hilfiger ophthalmic and sunglass products. The sunglass collection will be available in Tommy

Hilfiger boutiques, department stores and sunglass specialty stores in the U.S. as of November 2010, followed by the ophthalmic collection and the sunglass collection for the optical market in January 2011.

PALM OPTICAL'S NEW BUZZ North Miami Beach, Fla.- based Palm Optical has created a new division called "Buzz" to complement its high-fashion, high-end Ultra division, which includes Cazal and Caviar. Buzz will offer trendy, well-made product at more affordable price points and will launch early this year.

MIKLI TAKES STAKE IN VUARNET Alain Mikli International has taken a 75 percent equity stake in Sportoptic Pouilloux, the owner and developer of the Vuarnet sunwear brand. Mikli will redevelop the Vuarnet collection and broaden its reach via a new series of products featuring authenticated Vuarnet specialpurpose lenses from the company's own French factory and updated designs targeting the ski, nautical and water sports markets with a new collection, Vuarnet par Mikli, to debut in September 2010.

MARCOLIN RENEWS CAVALLI LICENSES The Marcolin announce the advanced renewal of the licensing agreements for the design, production and worldwide distribution of ophthalmic frames and sunglasses in the Roberto Cavalli Eyewear and Just Cavalli Eyewear collections through December 31, 2015.

ZOOBUG COMES TO U.S. U.K.-based Zoobug, a children's eyewear specialist, has signed a distribution agreement for the U.S. with AccessUrEyez Eyewear, which takes effect immediately. Zoobug offers children's sunglasses (pictured) and ophthalmic frames.

Carrera, one of the world’s most prestigious fashion sunglass and sports eyewear brands, has announced its inclusion in Rihanna’s latest music video “Rude Boy” the latest single off of the singer’s hit album Rated R.

The stylish, playful and seductive video for “Rude Boy” contains all of the elements that have made Rihanna so gravitating since the beginning of her career. In the video, Rihanna reveals the complexity of her personality by displaying her true light-hearted and pulsating charisma. The Carrera sunglass model “Endurance,” the brand’s signature and most colourful style in its recently relaunched “vintage collection,” adorns Rihanna throughout her performance. With the narrative set against a bold and bright landscape, the distinctive and fashionable eyewear enhances Rihanna’s fearless and flirty performance “Rude Boy” is currently in rotation on all major musical broadcast and on-line outlets.

Revo is headed to the mountain top. The performance eyewear maker was a supporting partner and exclusive eyewear provider for last month's philanthropic expedition, Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro.

Grammy-nominated musician, Kenna (top right), masterminded the expedition, which was an ascent of Tanzania's highest peak to raise awareness of the clean water crisis that affects more than one-billion people worldwide. The expedition raised funds for the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Water For People's PlayPumps Technology.

 Kenna's approach to driving social and environmental change inspired many of his influential friends to join the 19,340-foot climb including actress Jessica Biel, hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco (pictured below), actor Emile Hirsch, musician Santigold, Ambassador for Water Keeper Alliance Kick Kennedy and Revo(middle right).

"I have always believed that a single individual with passion and vision can have a tremendous impact on the world," says acclaimed mountaineer, photographer and environmental activist Jimmy Chin. "When Kenna explained what he was trying to do, I knew he was going to make something great happen." The team reached the summit after six intense days of enduring weather conditions ranging from snow to hail to rain, as well as dealing with the effects of altitude sickness.

 In keeping with the spirit of the expedition, beginning last month and concluding March 22, World Water Day, Sunglass Hut will donate 15 percent of proceeds from online sales of Revo Abyss and Belay sunglass models to Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro beneficiaries.

COMPLAINTS OR CLUES
Off-axis errors tend to cause floors and tabletops to appear tilted. Floors that appear to be humped up or scooped out when the patient looks downward at a few feet in front of them is usually caused by lateral prism, either basein or base-out. Power errors can cause blurring at distance or near, and inappropriatebase curves can lead to comments such as "thingsare- clear-but-something-isn't-right." These kinds of complaints can be important clues that can help you resolve your patient's difficulties more quickly.

Symptoms, signs, diagnosis and treatment is a classic chain for resolution of problems with eyewear. Patients tend to focus on their symptoms so you will certainly hear about them. Signs, the things you observe such as the fit of the eyewear or pressure marks on the nose or behind the ear, often give important clues. For example, right-handed patients who take their eyewear off with one hand may spread the left temple. The result can yield unequal vertex distances (longer on the right) as well as segs that appear to be too high on the right and too low on the left.

Your diagnosis of a spread left temple will guide you to adjust the left temple inward rather than making the mistake of adjusting the right temple upward to lower the right seg or adjusting the left temple downward to raise the left seg. A soccer ball hit at the juncture of the left temple and the front could cause a similar problem. In this case your realignment plan would be the same, but should be followed by suggesting a sturdy pair of sports glasses. Clinical Tip: Always correct unequal vertex distance before realigning the frame if the optical centers (or MRPs) are at unequal heights.

Patients sometimes return having never worn the new eyewear long enough for adaptation to occur. If you hear complaints of the eyewear causing the patient to be taller or shorter, you can be assured that the patient has not worn the lenses for any significant period of time. The taller/shorter phenomenon is an adaptation effect that passes very quickly. The effect is caused by lenses of intermediate or higher power being fitted with the optical centers at different heights relative to the pupils in the new Rx compared to their location in the old Rx. Your job is to decide which height will serve the patient best in the long run. Usually placing the optical centers at about the six o'clock position relative to the pupils works well for most patients. Clinical Tip: Specify MRP heights (or center of pupil heights for PALs) for every lens you order. Otherwise your lab will place the MRPs at the mounting line (i.e. halfway from the top to the bottom of the lens) and this is frequently a root cause for patient difficulties.

Whether your preliminary evaluation reveals a possible cause for your patient's problem or not, you must evaluate the lenses for a number of potential errors. This should be done systematically and carefully. Never assume that a "quick check" is sufficient because the lenses passed the quality control of your laboratory and the check-out procedure of your own office.

If the lenses are PALs, use the OLA's lens identifier manual to be sure the manufacturer's markings are as they should be. Look carefully for areas of distortion, waves and warpage by reflected light as well as by transmitted light. Check lens thicknesses and base curves. The power, thickness and curvature of a lens determine its magnification and patients tend to be sensitive to magnification differences, especially those that interfere with comfortable binocular vision. Your lensometer's lens clamp and lens table should be used to assure accuracy in power and prism readings.

Blurring at near is common with an increase in plus (either overall or via an add). Generally this is due to over-accommodation and it will pass as the patient "learns" to relax all that accommodative effort. Clinical Tip: Ask patients with increased plus to use extra light for near work for the first few days in the new prescription. This increases the depth-of-field and a normal reading distance can be easily maintained. The increased depth-of-field also optically widens the corridor and the reading area for PAL wearers and it makes adaptation easier, especially if they are firsttime PAL wearers.

Although the fit and fabrication of your patient's eyewear may be right on target, patient difficulties can arise from problems with the design. If you suspect a design problem, it is particularly important to compare the previous eyewear with the new.

CAREFUL OBSERVATION IS IMPORTANT
Careful observation is the key to unraveling many visual difficulties caused by problems with the fit of the eyewear. Although the patient may be annoyed by the frame sliding down his nose, he will probably not realize that the increase in vertex also increases the plus power of his add resulting in a too short reading distance. The same increase in vertex narrows the usable reading areas of his lenses so that more head movement is required to read a column of print and the lens corridors may no longer be available for binocular viewing making them partially or wholly unusable.

Looking at the patient from above makes it easy to detect unequal vertex distances. By looking at the patient from the side it is easy to evaluate inappropriate pantoscopic tilt. As you observe from the side, you can hold a fixation target (e.g. your thumb) so that the patient looks straight ahead. If you then lower your thumb slowly so the patient's lines-ofsight are depressed you can easily tell if the lashes have sufficient clearance and you can also estimate whether the lines-of-sight intersect the lenses at an improper angle .

Excessive adaptation problems and difficulties with vision are often caused by errors in fabrication or by the fit of the eyewear. If the problems are just an issue of adaptation, symptoms will lessen with about three days of constant wear for most patients and should resolve within another seven days or so. Patients sometimes can even adapt to minor errors in fabrication, but simply telling the patient the issue is one of adaptation is inappropriate. If your patient feels strongly enough about the issue to return to your office for resolution, you should always give the matter a full measure of your attention.

A SIMPLE TEST IDENTIFIES POTENTIAL CAUSES
The optical center of the lens represents the point at which light rays pass through undeviated. The optic axis passes through this optical center at right angles to the lens surfaces. Unless prism has been prescribed, the very best lens performance occurs when the patient's line-of-sight coincides with the optical axis of the lens.

If you want to assure the best lens performance, locate the optic axis rather than simply marking the optical center. To locate the optic axis use a direct ophthalmoscope or penlight at a distance of 20 inches or so from the patient. The patient should be directed to look at the light and you should observe the two reflections of the light (from the front and back lens surfaces). By moving as you keep the light directed toward the patient's pupil you will find one location at which the two reflections are superimposed to appear as a single reflected point of light. Once located, you need to note the relationship of that reflection to the patient's pupil and the orientation of your own line-of-sight to the patient's facial plane.

Most patients do best if the optic axes are straight ahead, parallel and depressed a few degrees downward. If the optic axes are splayed outward the frame may have too much wrap. Note: If the frame is intended to wrap significantly, your lab should be directed to make the appropriate changes in power and MRP location to compensate for the optical changes induced by the wrap.

Optic axes that point more upward in one eye than the other indicate a twist in the bridge that might otherwise be difficult to detect. Unwanted vertical prism also becomes apparent when the optic axis position in one eye is higher or lower than in the other (relative to the patient's pupils).

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
Patients who return with eyewear problems represent an opportunity to do more than simply resolve problems and complaints. They allow you to develop your skills in eyewear design and they will help you anticipate and avoid future eyewear problems. If you are persistent and meticulous in addressing these challenges, your patients will respect your dedication to their needs and to your profession.

Times flies when you're having fun, so it's hard to believe that next month we'll be putting on the third annual EyeRock New York concert.
The EyeRock Band, featuring more than 20 of the optical industry's best rock musicians and singers, is playing a return engagement at BB King Blues Club on Saturday, March 20. The concert will again benefit OneSight, a Luxottica Group Foundation that delivers free vision care and eyewear to underprivileged individuals around the world. That's Eric Rollins (left), Bruce Meyer (center) and Paul Shyer pictured performing at last year's New York show.

This year, Converse and John Varvatos by REM Eyewear is EyeRock's presenting sponsor. The official media sponsor of the event is Jobson Optical Group. Tickets for the event are $50 each and are available beginning February 1. For more information or to become a sponsor, visit www.onesight.org.

The new year is bringing a great many changes for Transitions Optical, the American multinational and leading manufacturer of high-performance light sensitive lenses. A new Transitions communication campaign will be launched in 2010 in various media - TV, press and the Internet - and will be presented for the first time at Mido 2010. The campaign protago- nist is Tyler Farrar, one of the top cyclists in the Garmin-Transitions Team of elite professionals. For two years he has been promoting ethical val- ues by respecting the fundamental principles of sport as well as developing future generations of champions.

The sponsorship will allow Transitions Optical to give more visibility to its light sensitive Transitions® lenses and to the Transitions® SOLFX™ brand of sun lenses. During training and competing, the athletes in the Garmin-Transitions Team will wear the most advanced technological solution that will guaranteecomfortable vision and protect them from changes in light and UV rays.

In January, the American company also launched a campaign to include opticians throughout Italy in its new Store-Locator, soon to be included in the transi- tions.it website.

The Store-Locator is a new service offered by Transi- tions which allows customers to find the outlet clos- est to home. The new tool will also give opticians more visibility on the Transitions website. Joining the Store-Locator is very easy: just go to http://www.ab- cmkt.it/transitions/storelocator.htm and insert your data in the form. Individual opticians can insert more than one outlet, each with its own address. The Store-Locator is just one of the many new addi- tions to the new Transitions Optical website, whose graphics and content will be completely renewed.

During the 2010 MIDO International Optics, Optometry and Ophthalmology Exhibition, Transitions Optical, the world's leading manufacturer of ophthalmic photochromic lenses, will be spinning into action with even more opportunities for industry professionals to leverage the strength of the Transitions brand to grow their businesses and meet the healthy sight needs of patients. Recognizing the importance of navigating the current economic climate, Transitions Optical will provide updates on its latest resources and consumer initiatives to help eye care professionals create a more successful business with premium products such as Transitions® lenses and Transitions® SOLFX™ sun lenses. Visitors will get a first-hand view of Transitions new wall display unit which incorporates interactive features and educational content to further engage customers in their lens selection. The eye-catching display will reinforce the value of the overall Transitions brand and enhance consumers' in store-experience.

Attendees are also invited to discover Transitions new television advertising and consumer outreach campaign. Tying into Transitions Optical's high-profile sponsorship of an elite professional cycling team, the attention-grabbing commercial and print ads feature Tyler Farrar, one of team Garmin-Transitions' star riders. The sponsorship and advertising campaign will help spark much excitement about Transitions lenses as the riders of Team Garmin-Transitions are racing with Transitions most advanced photochromic lens technology. In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to sprint into action with a bicycle racing simulator and pedal their way along a virtual course. Finally, booth visitors can participate in an exciting contest for a chance to win great prize giveaways.

The statistics are daunting: one in every 91 children in the United States is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), an organization dedicated to supporting, empowering and educating families dealing with autism, believes that appropriate medical interventions, traditional therapies and support services can help many children improve and even recover from the disease. TACA helps strengthen the autism community by connecting families with professional assistance. Oakley wants in on the fight against autism. The renowned sports brand has partnered with TACA and has embellished two of their most popular eyewear styles with a puzzle motif, symbolizing the message that the puzzle of autism can be solved. Oakley will donate $20 to TACA with each sale of the special-edition frames, TACA Oakley Fuel Cell and TACA Oakley Ravishing. Oakley's established presence in the global market will help bring TACA's mission to the public's awareness. "Corporations like Oakley are a wonderful gift to TACA and the families we serve," says TACA executive director Lisa Ackerman. "Oakley brings powerful influence to foster awareness and visibility of autism. We are grateful for this support and for friends like Oakley." And Oakley is no stranger to pairing up for a good cause, having met with great success after designing limited-edition breast cancer awareness frames. "We are honored to team with TACA and play a part in spreading the message of hope," notes Oakley's vice president of global sports marketing, Pat McIlvain.

 "The art on our new TACA special editions will fuel awareness and we are proud to assist in supporting TACA's ongoing mission to help children with autism reach their true potential."

Remember those long gone-BYE rock days when singers had voices that virtually roared with power, finesse and ...well... just damn great vocals.
The Eagles hit those notes. As did the Doobie Brothers, Arthur Lee's Love and blues based belters like Robert Plant and Steve Marriott. What happened to that clarion sound? It disappeared. So when a new singer/songwriter like TJay with a vibrant CD like "Take a Seat" (www.tjaymusic.com) comes along one surely takes notice. And you can tell there is a strong gig history for this muse-traveler as well. That pickup truck looks ready for the rock rigors of the road and with songs such as "Hey Fool" and "Monte" looks ready to ROLL. The Lucky Brand shades from Rem certainly complete this road show. Love that the particular style is called the Backbeat. Give it all a look and a listen. You'll be back.