That Personal Touch
Meeting consumer demand for customization
By Marcy Bruch
Photography by Peter Baker
Hair and Makeup by Alicia Kochis
Model: McDonald/Richards

Suddenly, the consumer wants product that's personal. And the savvy retailers tuned into this demand are turning out personalized merchandise with a bang.

For the do-it-yourselfers who don't want to spend much, there are stick-on letters to paste on the back pockets of jeans. There are crystal initial sunglass tattoos to stick on the corner of lenses. Artsy-craftsy types can go to Henri Bendel's Charm Bar to handpick beads and charms to assemble their own customized necklaces and bracelets. For click-and-pick shoppers, there's a Website dedicated entirely to personalized gifts: www.personalizedstore.com.

Creating a signature style

Personalization is taking the retail world by storm and eyewear is no exception. And nowhere is it more viable than at the high end of the market. Customization has always been a differentiating factor that leads customers into a high-end dispensary. After all, in many cases that discriminating clientele isn't just looking for quality eyewear, they want something they won't see on someone else. They want something that reinforces their own signature style.

Bill Roach, co-owner of the New York City-based high-end dispensary Robert Marc, says the company is giving their customers just that. "The editor of Paper magazine came to us asking for a new pair of Robi eyewear in a style she has always worn, but was discontinued. We not only made up another pair in the exact style and color, we gave her two more in different colors. Now she has a wardrobe of eyeglasses in the signature frame that has become part of her persona."

Similarly, Tim Fabozzi, owner of disRespectacles in New York City, has developed a private label collection of frames under the disRespectacles name that came about because of customer request for frame styles that aren't available anymore. "I'm not going to lose a sale because I can't find a particular style. I work with a supplier that will replicate a frame so my customers get exactly what they want."

Game for names

Of course, the core theme of personalization at retail is serving up merchandise that features monogrammed initials on anything from shirts to handbags. And if there's a scripted personal name on the product, all the better.

	Below: Style Mytis, left, style Dohar, right

Currently, Robert Marc is in the process of developing a personalized eyewear collection that sprang from a selection of frames made for celebrities with their names engraved on to the sides of temples. "We created personalized frames for actresses Uma Thurman, Natasha Richardson, and Kate Bosworth," says Roach.

The name engraving costs about $75 extra, which is quite reasonable in the grand scheme of customization, Roach notes. The new Robi personalized collection will offer consumers either initial or name engravings on temples. "What's happening is the consumer is foregoing a designer logo and replacing it with their own personal logo," Roach says.

Rimless potential

Admittedly, eyewear with monograms, initials and even zodiac signs graced on frames isn't for everyone. Yet, there are other ways of presenting customized options to increase dispensary profit.

At Chicago-based Eye Cetera, owner Jay P. Taub says his three-piece mount eyewear with made-to-order lens shapes and custom colors has become one of the most successful categories for his business. He estimates the sales from customized three-piece rimless frames represent 30 percent of his annual revenue.

The most popular customized option is tweaking lens shapes to better complement faces. "The stock lens shapes my supplier offers are rather mundane, so I look at lens shapes in our designer frame collections and have them edged at our lab," he says. "It makes an otherwise unobtrusive three-piece mount frame more fashion-forward and edgy."

Another way he customizes three-piece mounts is by utilizing the customer's favorite color in the frame bridge and temples or the lenses.

"People always have a favorite color that dominates their wardrobe and home décor and this is a way of bringing their signature color on to their face," says Taub. "By the time we add customized details to our three-piece mounts, the retail price will run anywhere from $500 to $700, which is a healthy profit margin for us."

Build A Rainbow: When someone looks particularly good in a frame, encourage them to try the same style in another color. Shown, Suteki style MA3513 for Toki. Shirt by Express

Choices, choices

At Through The Hayes Optometry in San Francisco, optician Jason Martin says the way they give their customers distinctive eyewear is by offering collections that aren't well known and have limited distribution. The dispensary offers a European line with interchangeable upper brow bar clip-ons for plastic frames and lower frame sleeves for metal frames, which completely changes the look of the frame. The frame comes with two clip-ons and retails for $350.

"Customers can even order more frame sleeves to continue building their color options. Because of the two additional frame bars, the consumer is getting three frames for the price of one," Martin says. "We don't want our customers to be San Francisco clones."

Martin says his strategy for riding the personalization wave is three-fold: "First, we carry exclusive lines that aren't available anywhere else in San Francisco. Second, we make sure that the eyewear doesn't look anything like what proliferates in the designer brand collections. Third, our eyewear is available in a wide range of pricepoints, so everyone who walks through our doors can afford to look as original as they feel."