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NEW YORK—Organizers of the new Eyewear ArtWalk, a series of collective exhibits planned for independent eyewear brands in different parts of the country, have postponed their planned New England dates for this month due to new COVID-19 protocols in the state of Massachusetts. However, they have expanded list of participating companies/collections for the concept and plan additional tours in Florida in November. As VMAIL reported last week, Eyewear ArtWalk is a new collaboration of several independent eyewear creators and art-centric collections ready to tour the New England market this month. National sales reps, designers, creators and artistic optical enthusiasts will converge at various locales, for a one-to-two day show, focused on their latest eyewear creations, offered wholesale to the optical community.

The notice came as a late decision on Thursday Oct 15 by the managers of the event’s tour dates for the New England area, largely due to local travel complications, coupled with suggestions by the Governor of the State of Mass., and newly imposed restrictions related to COVID-19 protocols, which directly affect small optical businesses in the area. The Eyewear ArtWalk will be rescheduled for the New England area tour in the coming months, when the restrictions and levels of COVID concerns are lifted by the local government officials, they said.

Explained Stephen Fournier, eyewear designer, and affiliated with Davettes Lunettes and Casanova Eyewear, "The Eyewear ArtWalk is a result of cancellations of gatherings en masse, and with concern for proper protective protocols, this may be an answer to address the lack of connection between the newest products offered from small eyewear design companies and their fans.

Added Melodie Annis, national representative for Henau Eyewear, “We needed a safe way to effectively meet with buyers, to supply our eyewear fans with an easy to control environment, and show off the products our companies have been creating during the past several months.”

According to Fournier, "New creators have been added to our lineup of talent, and optical artists gallery display. We will feature several art-centric eyewear collaborations and limited edition productions from each brand."

Following next week's New England tour, the group is headed to Florida and these cities:
• Nov. 15-16, Sarasota, Fla., Embassy Suites
• Nov. 16-17, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Embassy Suites
• Nov. 17-18, Palm Beach, Fla., Embassy Suites
• Nov. 18-19, Orlando Fla., Embassy Suites
• Nov 19-20, Tampa Fla., Embassy Suites

As of VMAIL's presstime, the participating companies/collections include: Davette's Lunettes, Casanova Eyewear, Taxi Occhiali, Taxi by Davette, Fabulous Face Shields, Kingdom Luxury, Henau Eyewear, Le Kevin Lanyards, Onirico, Dolce Vita, Nina Mur, Hapter, Lucas De Stael, Robert La Roche, Matsuda, Lafont, Fiction, l.a.Eyeworks, Laibach & York, MyFriend's Lab, Iyoko Inyake, Otro Eyewear, Catherine de Medici, Kame ManNen, Giorgio Nannini, Essedue, Dandy's, Platoy, Glare.

Future tours include the EWAW tour in December, as the tour moves to the state of Virginia starting on Dec. 6 in Arlington, and ending in Washington D.C. The Eyewear ArtWalk is accepting applications from exhibitors, and has a registration on the official website for tickets for optical buyers and attendees. Attendance is offered at no cost for all of the 2020 event dates, but appointment reservations are mandatory.

Updates will be posted on the website here.