Tarrence Lackran is looking to shake up the eyewear show circuit. “I want buyers of luxury eyewear to feel not just that they are coming to see product, but also to develop an emotional attachment or connection to a brand,” he said.
A seasoned eyewear executive with a social media presence as The Optical Poet, Lackran founded Eyecons Agency and has stints at Reed Exhibitions and The Vision Council. Now he is reimagining a trade event, debuting the Eyecon show in New York March 14 through March 16.
“Eyecon is not a trade show,” he contended. “It’s a reimagined space where creativity, education and business converge. By integrating storytelling into every aspect of the event — from vendor showcases and including voices from across the luxury spectrum — we aim to inspire our industry to think beyond boundaries and elevate the entire luxury eyewear experience.”
Lackran’s show invites vendors to dive deeper, transforming their booths into immersive brand showcases, “creating environments that bring their stories to life and offering buyers and attendees a deeper connection to their craft and vision.”
He explained that he wants to spark something different for attendees that will trickle down and help them tell a fuller story to their clients. “Anything that we can do to bring more people into this world of luxury eyewear,” he said.
He defines what makes eyewear luxury through a variety of touch points. “One, I think there’s access. If there’s limited access or exclusivity on a brand, I think that’s luxury to be able to have something that no one else has. I think production is another side of luxury, including the materials being used. Also function — are they servicing a need from underrepresented clientele, like the hearing impaired or the blind? And then, of course, there’s just sick sick design.”
Panels are standard for industry events and he is thinking differently, reaching outside of eyewear to enlist other industries’ voices for conversations — leaders in fashion, retail and hospitality — to explore innovation, craftsmanship and the future of luxury.
“I feel like our industry has a lot of people that when they think about customer experience, service and luxury, they only know what’s happening in eyewear. So it’s very important to bring the New York vibe of luxury inside and get outside perspectives into our industry.”
Other sessions will cover the growth of performance eyewear. “We have an Olympic athlete speaking along with a few different performance eyewear brands to discuss the style and how performance eyewear is evolving, just content that’s very relevant to these type of opticians,” he said.
He is expecting around 350 to 400 attendees over the three-day show. So far the lineup includes Ahlem, Alain Mikli, Anna-Karin Karlsson, Capote, Dindi, Dita Lancier, Jacquemus, Kuro Athletics, Lapima, Leisure Society, Max Pittion, Miga Studios, House of Modo, Native Sons, Nuance Audio, Oscar Mamooi, Persol, Puroo, Quay, Sauvage, Selima Optique, Shady Character, Shamir, Solamor, Soya, T Henri, Vakay and Zeiss.
“We got people attending from Tokyo and Sweden, which I did not expect it to get international,” he said. “You know New York is a little bit different this year with Vision Expo not being here.”
