Tag Archives: sunwear

Monika Schnarre Debuts in Exciting Partnership with Optiq Frames

Posted on by

By Paddy Kamen

Monika Schnarre, the youngest woman ever to win Ford’s Supermodel of the World competition, is now the proud designer of an eyewear collection in partnership with Optiq Frames.

Schnarre won the modeling competition when she was only 14, subsequently gracing the cover of American Vogue and runways the world over. Not many young women would have the poise and confidence to live that kind of high-pressure life and Schnarre allows that it was challenging: “I felt this great sense of expectation, perhaps self-imposed, that I had to be a perfect role model, completing high school while working internationally, getting straight ‘A’s, and also living a wholesome lifestyle, which isn’t easy in the modeling world.”

By age 18, Schnarre had given up full-time modeling and moved to Los Angelesto pursue acting. She tested herself by not relying on her savings, throwing herself into another uber-competitive world. “It is definitely very hard to break into acting. I was lucky because I started doing commercials right away and landed a job on The Bold and the Beautiful and then The Beastmaster. At the same time, I took a two-year certificate program in journalism at UCLA.”

After appearances on many leading television shows and hosting red-carpet events, Schnarre decided that she wasn’t meeting her full potential. She left LA and moved back to her hometown of Toronto in 2008, hoping to get more television work.

“The industry was really hurting at that time, and I wasn’t going to sit around waiting for a job to materialize,” she explains. “I realized that I have good name recognition and a love for fashion, so I decided to turn that into a woman’s apparel line.”

Having seen many fashion designers go broke, Schnarre took a low-risk approach and began working with the Shopping Channel. “I knew what I was missing in my own wardrobe and I instinctively knew how to address the needs of tall women like myself,” she explains. “My first collection, Tall, sold out. That collection is now sold through retail stores and now I also design clothes for the average woman, plus accessories, including bags and jewelry.”

It was a chance meeting through a mutual friend that led to Schnarre connecting with Joe Nadler, president of Optiq Frames. “I’ve always loved eyewear and have many pairs in my collection, even though I don’t have a prescription. I liked the Nadlers immediately. It was essential to me that I be involved in the process as I didn’t want to just stick my name on something that I didn’t believe in. They were receptive to my ideas and so a partnership was created.”

Says Nadler:  “I saw working with Monika as an outstanding opportunity. I love the fact that she is Canadian and I appreciate what she is invoking with her brand.”

As Nadler points out, many manufacturers simply obtain a license to use a designer’s name and, “slap the name on with little or no actual involvement from the designer. Our partnership with Monika, is, in contrast, very hands on. She is easy to work with and knows how to articulate her brand. And with all her years in the fashion industry she is very much in touch with what women want to wear. I’m happy to say that we are all extremely proud of the collection.”

The Monika Schnarre eyewear collection of prescription frames and sunwear features designs that embody Monika’s fashion philosophy of simple sophistication and affordability. “The women I design for are working women, like me. They don’t have a fortune to spend on eyewear and yet they insist on designs that further their self-expression and sense of style,” she says.

The launch of the collection this spring will find Schnarre on Breakfast Television and in major women’s magazines. She will appear at trade shows with Optiq Frames and even at customer locations. Video footage has been shot for television and print and radio exposure will be included. “She is prepared to do what it takes to promote the collection and her elegance and recognition factor demand attention,” says Nadler.

All Optiq Frames eyewear, including the Monika Schnarre collection, is manufactured in the same leading factories as many other well-known brands. “We pride ourselves on the quality of our frames,” notes Nadler. “That quality, combined with accessible design features and reasonable pricing, assures us that the target market of women 30 and over is going to love these frames.”

Each frame comes with a lens cloth and designer case, also created by Schnarre, both in her signature colours of blush pink and chocolate brown. Frames are on-trend in a variety of styles (roughly 50 per cent metals and 50 per cent Italian acetates), featuring tortoise shell, sleek metallic temple details and current colours.

It seems there’s no stopping Monika Schnarre as she turns her early success on the world’s runways and her experience in fashion, acting and media to the creation of products that help women express themselves with confidence and style.

Unravelling the Mystery of Sunwear

Posted on by

By Dana Sacco

The funny thing about sunglasses is that they become part of our persona and allow us to project an image or style. Of course, sunglasses also protect our eyes and the delicate skin around them. Technologically advanced sun lenses provide crisp optics and enhance visual performance. It’s such a cliché – the guy on the beach admiring females passing by, with full confidence that his observations are shielded by a pair of dark sunglasses. Like all stereotypes it contains a modicum of truth. Yes, sunglasses protect us from harmful UV rays but they also add that layer of mystery.

So, it’s interesting to look at what motivates our clients and to understand the behavioural needs that drive their sunglass purchases. Opticians have a long-standing tradition in retail and an innate philosophy of customer-focused selling. They are trained to understand the lifestyle and needs of the customer and to provide the perfect eyewear solution for them.

Optical inventory selections are often driven by trends in the marketplace. Some opticians have a “golden gut” that lets them pair the perfect sunwear trend to the patient. Those opticians instinctively understand the key motivating behaviours of their customers and translate that “EQ” or emotional intelligence into the perfect sale.

An example is the “weekend warrior” who lives a sport-centred lifestyle. Many athletes have fiercely competitive natures. This assertiveness drives them to go to great lengths to get the newest style or technology to enhance their athletic performance. Any Oakley or adidas sunwear dealer has served a customer who knows all about the newest, “about-to-be-released” model. Just like a new golf club that will make their shots 20 yards longer, the sunglass is in hot demand.

Generally speaking, if a client pursues individual sports they may be less extroverted and will choose a more conservative style. Their more extroverted counterparts often choose team sports and identify with bold colours and distinctive designs.

An athlete who is a strong sequential processor, such as a long-distance marathon runner or golfer, displays core behaviours linked to repetitive tasks, which are sustained for long periods of time. These people are often quite happy to wear the same style for many years. Or, if they update their look, the next model will be quite similar to their last, as they may be reluctant to change.

A person who is hard-wired for urgency to achieve their goals, such as a beach volleyball player, whose sport has a very random changing pattern, will likely own multiple pairs of sunglasses to suit their mood and playing conditions. Sunwear models that offer choices of lens colours or a changeable palette in the frame design will appeal to their natures.

Identifying your athletic customers’ need for detail will also help the sales process. Those attracted to highly technical sports, such as road cycling and mountain biking, will often display a need to know all the technological aspects of their purchase and demand the same attention to detail as they would in purchasing their coveted bicycle.

The level of core behaviours, such as assertiveness, extroversion, sense of urgency and detail orientation, give the retailer a basic pattern to work with in the selling process. In behavioural science you must take account of individual personality, which is shaped by birth order, cultural context and other external experiential factors. However, some studies indicate that understanding core behaviours can give us insight into about 30 per cent of a person’s make-up and help predict behavioural outcomes with about 85 per cent accuracy.

As an optician, sunglasses represent the “fun” side of the eyecare business. Every client has unique needs and it’s not necessarily the activity that drives their final purchase decision. Each customer presents a new mystery for the optician to solve and a new opportunity to establish a valuable long-term relationship.