As we mentioned earlier in the week, Urban Optiques has partnered with 944 Detroit Magazine to give away a pair of fab Loree Rodkin eyeCouture Special Edition “Hunter”  Sunglasses with 18K white gold lenses as part of 944’s new “Detroit Swag” feature.

I won’t go into all the reasons that these are amazing sunglasses worth every cent of their $1,200 price tag (okay, I will: They have genuine hand-cut calfskin leather inserts, 18K gold couture lenses and, of course, the jewelry-grade sterling silver Loree Rodkin signature skulls at the temples.)

The real question on everyone’s mind is how do I wear them?

So to provide some inspiration, we’re putting together five looks this month ranging from mild, to a little bit wild — to completely wild — to show you how easy it is to accessorize these super-lux aviators.

This is a unisex frame, so be patient men … we’ll provide some looks for you also. But today we’re going to start with a cool, urban look that combines the Special Edition Loree Rodkin Hunter with a pair of Alice + Olivia seamed biker pants, Brooke Western Snake Tee, and a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti pumps.

We also tossed in some great accessories that play off from the leather, sterling silver and platinum finish on the Hunter sunglasses, including a vintage Chanel ring, Sonora Leather bracelet and dog-tag style monogrammed charm from Helen Ficalora (you can customize it with your initial.)

All of the elements of the ensemble (minus the Loree Rodkin sunglasses) are available at Shopbop.com.

To enter the 944 Detroit/Urban Optiques giveaway and have a chance at winning the Special Edition Loree Rodkin Hunter sunglasses, visit the 944 Detroit Swag Microsite.

A Little Bit Wild

A few weeks ago, Brian Glascow at Sama Eyewear swore us to secrecy when he shared a new Heart of Gold sunglass variation that Sheila Vance and the Sama Team had been hard at work on for months.

This was going to be a very special sunglass, Brian explained, with an extremely limited run: Sama was producing only 35 of these sunglasses, and just 10 of them were going to be available to the public through Sama’s small, exclusive network of independent optical boutiques.  The remainder would be available for purchase only at the Destination: Sama Beverly Hills, Rome, St. Louis and West Hollywood Boutiques and to a small, inner circle of Sama loyalists.

That’s right: There are only 35 of these sunglasses in the world.

When Brian sent us photos of the new Heart of Gold Regal we were floored. Featuring five microns of 18K white gold over titanium and genuine “purple velvet” Swarovski crystals at the temples, the new Limited Edition Heart of Gold Regal sunglasses melted our hearts.

So we advanced ordered two.

Two out of the ten available to independent Sama retailers, and two out of only 35 in the world.

It doesn’t get much more exclusive than that.

Our two Sama Heart of Gold Regals arrived yesterday at Urban Optiques and they were just as beautiful as in the pictures.  If you are a jewelry lover, you’ll adore these suns.

Like the other Heart of Gold sunglasses, the Regal features the distinctive “coin” etching on the temples and a double-hinge which makes them not only less prone to stress fractures and wear, but also improve the comfort of the sunglasses.

We still haven’t decided what we’ll do with the second pair.

We love them so much that we are thinking we put one on display for our clients to buy, and keeping the second in reserve just for ourselves.  It’s unlikely we’ll be able to acquire additional pieces in the future, so it’s first come, first serve on this amazing sunglass.

Sama: Eyewear With a Heart

Even better, when you buy the Sama Heart of Gold Regal, 100% of Sama’s net profits on the sale of the sunglass are donated to the Betty Ford Center to help treat teen and young adult drug addiction.

Why the Betty Ford Center?

Because in 1997, Sama founder and lead designer Sheila Vance lost her 19 year old son, Sam Vance, to heroine experimentation while he was a freshman at UCLA.

Wanting to change Hollywood and the fashion industries portrayal of “Heroine Chic” as sexy — as well as offer help to teens and their families struggling with drug addiction — Sheila Vance literally founded Sama Eyewear as a feeder to her non-profit Sam Vance Foundation.

We personally love that that Sheila Vance and Sama take a substantial portion of their profits and use it for good.  It’s their reason for being and something they don’t compromise on.  Sama has rock-solid principles:  For example, they refuse to participate in the “pay for placement” of eyewear that so many other eyewear brands dump millions of dollar into. It runs counter to their foundation’s mission and they just won’t do it.

This makes it even more remarkable that so many celebrities and movie stylists choose Sama. They don’t get the frames for free: They buy them freely themselves.

The Heart of Gold Regal is $1,587 and includes a certificate of authenticity, custom leather carrying case and a limited edition Heart of Gold microfiber lens cloth.

The final look in our “Sama Heart of Gold Sunglasses: Five Ways Over Five Days“ Style Series is all about nature.

We centered the entire look around the beautifully light and airy purple and orange Diane Von Furstenburg “Layly” Tiger dress, which puts a new, colorful twist on this season’s continued obsession with animal prints.

We tried to carry the “Au Naturale” theme through the entire look, choosing accessories that utilized natural materials like wood and cork:  Purple D Squared wood platform heels, a Tahari cork clutch and a wood and gold bangle bracelet to finish it off.

Of course, there are also the Sama Heart of Gold sunglasses, which complement the rich, royal oranges and purples that dominate the ensemble.

Enjoy!

Au Naturale

You’ve Seen this Look, Now See the Rest!

Don’t forget to check out the other four looks we put together with the Sama Heart of Gold sunglasses:

• Look One: Guilded Pleasures
• Look Two: Platinum Play
• Look Three: Day to Night
• Look Four: Street Scene
• Look Five: Au Naturale

In celebration of both the arrival of summer and the debut of Sama Couture Eyewear at Urban Optiques, we decided to take one of Sama’s most beautiful, unique eyewear pieces — the Sama Heart of Gold sunglass — and create five different looks over the next five days.

The Heart of Gold combines colored Swarovski crystals set in 24K gold over titanium frames with Sama’s signature 24K gold flash coated mirrored lenses to create a luxed-up, decadent alternative to the typical aviator sunglass.

The Heart of Gold comes in both yellow gold and platinum frames. Lens tints and coatings are customized for you, including 24K yellow gold or 18K white gold lenses.

Heart of Gold was a true labor of love for Sama Eyewear founder and lead designer Sheila Vance, who literally created the sunglasses in memory of her late son Sam Vance, who lost his life at 19 years old to heroine experimentation.  One hundred percent of the net profits of Heart of Gold sales are donated by Sama to the Betty Ford Clinic.

Sama Heart of Gold Look of the Day: Gilded Pleasures

This look is all about rich, warm hues, metallics and crystals.

To help you get inspired around how to accessorize these sunglasses, we combined the Sama Heart of Gold with an amazing Giuseppe Zanotti clutch embellished with crystals that complement the Swarovskis in the suns, a killer pair of gilded Christian Louboutin “Poseidon 120″ peep-toe pumps and your choice of three colored diamond rings from the Macy’s “Diamond in the Rough” collection.

Guilded Pleasures

Tomorrow, we’ll present a very different look that incorporates the Platinum Heart of Gold with 18K white gold mirrored lenses.

We ran recently ran across this nice little video from Eyewearfanatic.com. Olivia Keeling interviews  Sama Eyewear co-founder Ross Vance and the video has some nice close-ups of the newest Sama sunglass models, including the simply gorgeous Heart of Gold sunglasses.

It’s also cool to hear Ross Vance talk about what makes each of the pieces unique, as well as discuss some of the design and material elements that go into Sama couture eyewear.

Check it out:

Many thanks to Olivia Keeling of Eyewear Fanatic for providing the footage.

It’s not often that you get to wear a pair of $18,000 eyeglasses for an entire evening, but that’s exactly what we where able to do during Saturday’s FRED Cocktail Party and Trunk Show at Urban Optiques.

We snapped some random pictures of the team during the show wearing some of the most exquisite eyewear on the planet, thanks to Deborah Signorello, the National Sales Manager for Premiere Vision.

Premiere Vision is the distributor of both Tag Heuer and the FRED luxury eyewear collection, and Deborah helped us put on an amazing event last Saturday night.

It was our first show with FRED since buying the practice, but it definitely won’t be our last.

For those of you who attended, we thank you.

For those who couldn’t stop in, you missed something really special.

But there will be more chances in the future.

Special thanks are in order to Edwards Cafe and Caterer of Northville who provided plenty of scrumptious finger foods and desserts, as well as Wine Sync for the selection of French whites and reds and gift cards.

Don’t forget that if you want to be alerted to upcoming events, special offers, trunk shows and new product at Urban Optiques,  sign up for our free Eye Candy E-Mail Newsletter. We never sell your information, and you’ll typically only get a few e-mails from us a year (one a month is typically the max.)

Without further ado, check out some of the photos from Saturday night’s cocktail party!

FRED Lunette’s Cocktail Party at Urban Optiques

Fred Paris Lunettes Prestige Collection Display

Fred-Paris Prestige Collection Featuring Precious Gems, Diamonds and Exotic Woods

The Urban Optiques Team and Deb Signorello Modeling the FRED Pearls Sunglasses

Claire Modeling the FRED Lunettes from the FRED Prestige Collection

Urban Optiques Practice Manager Lindsey In Fred Prestige Diamond Lunettes

Another Picture of Lindsey in the Diamond Encrusted FRED Lunettes

Close Up of FRED Eyeglasses

Matt in the FRED Melville Eyeglasses in Black with Platinum Temples

FRED Volute Sunglasses

FRED Prestige Bois D

Dr. Michelle in FRED Pearls Sunglasses Featuring Inset Diamonds

Close Up of Temple on FRED Pearls Sunglasses with Diamonds

Detail of Diamonds in FRED Pearls Sunglasses

Another Close Up of the FRED Pearls in Yellow Gold with Diamonds. Available also in Platinum.

FRED Prestige Eyeglasses with Quartz Fume (Smoky Quartz)

Claire in Her Pearls

Jay in his Favorite Frames in the Entire Store: The FRED Melvilles! Available also in Brown.

Lindsey in the Pearls

Mambo Prefers Ray-Ban to FRED. It

Reservoir Dogs Anyone?

FRED Lunettes

The Women of Urban Optiques

These ARE NOT FREDS on Ryan!

Ryan Trying Out a Pair of Vintage Flip-Down Readers. We do not see FRED adding these to their line anytime in the future ... if ever.

In early January we noticed an upsurge in people asking about the Badgley Mischka Perry sunglasses.

But not just the usual Badgley Mischka Perrys — clients kept asking whether we stocked the gold Perry with gold lenses.

At first, we couldn’t quite understand the sudden interest.

Angelina Jolie had been spotted earlier sported the gold Badgley Mischka Perry with gold mirror lenses, and that caused a minor uptick in sales, but nothing like the buzz we saw over the past two months.

And then we noticed something in Rihanna’s “So Hard” video:

Yes, those gold sunglasses on the very lovely Rihanna are Badgley Mischka Perrys.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

The lenses Rihanna is wearing look like gold because they are literally gold: 24K  to be exact.

The lens itself isn’t made of gold, obviously, but its flash comes from a 24k gold coating that creates an amazing gold mirror that can’t be found on any other sunglass.

The photo above doesn’t do this sunglass justice, although you can get a much better idea of how stunning this gold aviator is from seeing it on Rihanna in the video clip.  Or you can just stop in a try it on for yourself.

The frame is also available in a white gold frame 24k white gold mirror lens and in a black frame with black lenses.

We currently have two Badgley Mischka Perry sunglasses in stock with the gold coated lenses:  One with the yellow gold frame and gold lenses that Riahanna wears in “So Hard”, and one with a black frame and white gold lenses.

Stop in to try them on and channel your inner Rihanna.

Tanks, machine guns and battle fatigues not required … although a killer sense of style is.

This week’s featured designer sunglass comes courtesy of super-hot L.A. jewelry designer Loree Rodkin brought to you by Sama Couture Eyewear and Urban Optiques.

It’s the “Tommy” sunglass, which features a “skull and bones” Swarovski crystals motif on the temples.

While this sunglass isn’t for everyone (you definitely have to sport the right attitude to pull this shade off), it’s one of our best-kept-secrets at Urban Optiques. We KNOW there is the right woman out there for this killer sunglass.

In case you’re not familiar with Loree Rodkin, she’s one of Los Angeles’ hottest custom jewelers. Her jewelry designs have appeared on countless celebrities of all ages and generations, including Miley Cryus, Dakota Fanning, Christina Applegate, Marcia Cross, Ashley Tisdale, Jenna Dewan and “Twilight’s” Ashley Greene.

First Lady Michelle Obama even wore a $17,000 (borrowed) custom Loree Rodkin pair of earrings to the “We Are One” concert in Washington, D.C.

While we don’t see the First Lady wearing these Loree Rodkin “Tommy” Sunglasses, they work amazingly well with a pair of black skinny jeans and a cool, cropped leather biker jacket. Age is no limit on these Loree Rodkin shades, but the right attitude definitely is.

Based on what we’re seeing in the fashion press, we think 2010 will be marked by an edgier, tough-girl look. Expect to see more black leather, biker jackets and sterling silver accessories.  The Loree Rodkins will accentuate this look perfectly.

Like all Sama eyewear, the Loree Rodkin sunglasses are extremely well-made.

Sama also makes our exclusive line of Badgley-Mischka eyewear, and most clients can immediately recognize that these are extremely well-constructed sunglasses once they place them on their faces.

The fit and finish really tells the story. There’s a reason Loree Rodkin chose Sama to help design, distribute and market her line of eyewear: Sama knows how to get eyewear right.

Urban Optiques is the only Metro-Detroit vision care and eyewear boutique to carry the Loree Rodkin collection. We have more than 10 designs available, both in exquisite optical frames as well as sunglasses.

If there is a particular Loree Rodkin eyewear frame or sunglass that you looking for, and we don’t currently have it in stock, we’d be more than happy to order it for you at no charge and with no obligation to buy. Please call us at 248-347-9090 to make it happen.

Okay, so you like the shape of the Ray-Ban Wayfarer, but would prefer to have something with a little French flair?

Check out the “Tom” sunglass from Lanvin-Paris.

We love the classic, Audrey Hepburn-Breakfast-at-Tiffany’s inspired shape of this sunglass.

While it certainly takes some styling cues from the classic Wayfarer, Lanvin put their own subtle twist on this sunglass, rounding the frame out just a touch and adding nice little accents, like the delicate striping across the tops of the frames and temples.

While this isn’t a huge sunglass (compared with some of the big, Jackie-O styles we stock), it does have a nice lens height, which makes it ideal for dropping in a prescription progressive lens.

Even better, the frame comes in four colors: Grey, Black, Tortoise and Caramel (the tortoise and caramel are our favorite shades), with available matching lens tints.

This frame also makes for a cool, retro-style eyeglass if you drop the tint and put a clear prescription lens in it. It doesn’t work for everyone, but on some faces it can be a surprisingly hot-looking eyeglass.

Match these babies up with a sleek Lanvin-Paris trench coat or even a pair of jeans from Lanvin’s denim line to complete that just off-the-runway look.

For the budget-minded lover of fashion, these Lanvin sunglasses would look great with the Burberry Technical Taffeta Ruched Coat currently on sale at Nordstroms or even this blue Merona military trench from Target.

We currently have all four colors of the Lanvin 4124 “Tom” sunglass in stock at Urban Optiques.

We try as much as possible to do things differently around Urban Optiques.

For example, we tend to carry a lot more in-store frame stock than most optical shops and optometrist offices (we like to have plenty of cool stuff on hand for you to try on); we don’t schedule our eye exams in 15 minute blocks like the chains (we actually believe in spending time with you to help you care for your eyes); and we don’t display our eyewear in the usual, factory-made, run-of-the-mill display cases (we use “rescued” antique furniture and cabinets.)

If you’ve been in our eyewear studio, you’ll know that displays are something that we spend a lot of time on.  Lately, we’ve been experimenting around with some different display approaches to enhance the visual experience of shopping for eyewear at Urban Optiques.

How we decided to present our new Lanvin-Paris Eyewear Collection is a great example.

Highlighting Lanvin

Since we’re the first Michigan eyewear boutique to carry the Lanvin-Paris eyewear line, we wanted to try something different with how we displayed the brand in the store.

Fashion junkies will know the Lanvin-Paris label instantly, but for the uninitiated, “Lanvin” will sound like … well … “French.”

So we wanted to try to capture and present the essence of France’s oldest couture design house for people who may be finding out about this legendary brand for the first time.  Despite its venerable roots, Lanvin isn’t as widely known in the U.S. as a brand like Prada or Chanel (although we think it should be.)  So we needed to somehow capture the spirit of this line and pass it on to our clients.

Matching The Display to the Brand: Capturing the Essence of Lanvin-Paris

Eyewear shops love manufacturer point-of-purchase (POP) promotional materials: You know, those little stand-up cards with pictures of models wearing the latest eyewear from this-or-that brand.

And who wouldn’t love it?

Fashion labels can spend millions on their seasonal campaigns, and the photography is always beautiful and high quality. We use plenty of it ourselves.

But again, we like to mix things up every now and then.

So for the Lanvin Collection, we decided to build a custom display.

Our Lanvin Eyewear Collection is extremely deep — we basically purchased a minimum of one piece of each eyeglass frame and sunglass that Lanvin offers (and in several different colors as well), so the collection deserved its own dedicated display case.

Instead of using the usual POP materials, however, we opted to take an “inspiration board” approach to styling the display.

We grabbed snapshots from Lanvin’s latest runway shows, pictures of the late Madame Jeanne Lanvin (founder of the Lanvin fashion house) and even dug up some vintage Vogue covers featuring Lanvin designs. Alongside this, we scattered in images from past and present Lanvin fashion campaigns.

Here’s a few snapshots of what we put together:

Our goal here was to create a visual representation of the overall Lanvin-Paris brand, and not just their eyewear.

We liked how it turned out so much that we’re considering extending this approach to our other fashion eyewear collections and displays.

But you tell us what YOU think.