Blog

January 14, 2021May 20, 2026

Levi’s Launches Optical and Sunwear with Safilo

Levi’s, one of the world’s most recognized denim brands, launched eyewear in partnership with Safilo. The collection is designed with a fashion forward consumer in mind and features a wide range of functional yet stylish men’s, women’s and unisex
optical and sunwear styles evoking the effortless appeal of the California lifestyle.

Featured model: LV1000

Distributed by Safilo: www.safilo.com

January 13, 2021January 13, 2021

IMAGINEM Announces Canadian Advisory Council Members

IMAGINEM, the new global omni-channel media brand that celebrates Independent eyewear collections from around the world, is pleased to announce the first members of the IMAGINEM Advisory Council in North America.

Advisory Council members play a vital role in the evolution of the brand by providing guidance to the editorial and publishing team and sharing their experiences with their respective networks as IMAGINEM brand Ambassadors.

In Canada, Image consultant and Registered Optician, Wendy Buchanan, will take up the mantle of IMAGINEM Ambassador. Wendy is the creative force and founder of the BeSpectacular™ Image & Eyewear Styling program for eyewear fashionistas, helping practices differentiate their optical dispensaries and drive higher ROI through fashion-first multiple pair sales.

“The minute I learned of the IMAGINEM brand concept, I felt an immediate connection to who I am and what I do as an image consultant and optician. I absolutely love independent eyewear brands and look forward to sharing my expertise in collaboration with IMAGINEM”, said Wendy.

In another building block of the global omni-channel approach, IMAGINEM is pleased to announce a collaboration with OPTIK Magazine, Canada’s leading full-spectrum bilingual eyewear and eye care publication.

Shan Khan, Registered Optician, Editor in Chief, and Opticianry Instructor at Canada’s largest Opticianry program also joins the Advisory Council as a Media Partner.

In USA, Kristie Nguyen, OD, is a fast-rising social media star in the eyewear world. Dr. Nguyen is in private practice in in Orlando, Florida. Her fashion flare is a natural fit for the IMAGINEM brand and the collections which adorn its pages.

“IMAGINEM is such a natural fit with my interest in exquisite eyewear fashion. I enthusiastically look forward to sharing the insiders’ view and the stunning imagery of independent eyewear styles with my colleagues”, said Kristie.

A digital demo of IMAGINEM is available online. Readers are invited to view the magazine and request a complimentary subscription for the first issue.

Click HERE for the full press release.

LHON Study Finds Double the Impact

In a surprising finding, scientists have shown that injecting a gene therapy for Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) into one eye can improve the vision in a patient’s other eye.

LHON is a genetic eye disease which leads to degeneration of the optic nerve, which transmits light signals to the brain. This can lead to sudden irreversible central vision loss.

In this Phase 3 LHON clinical trial, sponsored by GenSight Biologics and published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, scientists injected a gene therapy into one eye of an individual who was recently diagnosed (less than 12 months ago) with LHON. The eye that didn’t receive the gene therapy injection acted as a “control” to ensure that any vision changes or safety issues that occurred were caused by the treatment itself and not by something else. Interestingly (and unexpectedly) 78% of the 37 treated patients experienced improved vision not only in the treated eye but in both eyes.

Further research showed that the gene therapy was likely being transferred to the other eye, but importantly was not going to other parts of the body. These are exciting results and the researchers are completing a few more studies. The hope is that if these studies show that the gene therapy is consistently safe and effective, it could be a new treatment for LHON helping to preserve and even restore vision.

Click HERE for Fighting Blindness Canada Research news.

January 13, 2021January 13, 2021

Scotiabank Funds Critical Virtual CNIB Programs

In May of 2020, CNIB received a transformational gift from Scotiabank to ensure the futures of youth with sight loss remain as bright as ever.

Scotiabank’s gift was crucial in allowing CNIB to quickly shift their services and develop a wide range of virtual programs to help young people with sight loss when they needed it most. Not only are these programs helping youth stay connected and engaged while warding off significant isolation during the pandemic, they’re also helping them build vital employment and leadership skills that will put them on the road to success in the future.

So far nearly 450 young Canadians with sight loss have participated in these life-changing programs. Now, more than ever, programs like these are essential in helping youth with sight loss achieve their educational and vocational goals.

Click HERE for the full press release.

January 9, 2021January 8, 2021

ClickCheck: Bringing Vision Care to Underserved Communities

One of the key barriers to bringing vision care to the developing world is the lack of affordable testing tools and Essilor’s ClickCheck™ is breaking down that barrier.

Uncorrected poor vision is the world’s largest unaddressed disability and a public health crisis today, with 2.7 billion people suffering from this condition, of whom 90% live in developing or rural areas at the economic base of the pyramid (BoP). To better serve this population, this latest innovation, the ClickCheck™ enables vision screening to be conducted anytime, anywhere.

Designed with a telescope-like shape, the ClickCheck™ is an intuitive tool that can quickly and easily estimate refractive errors. It is portable and requires no electricity to operate, which makes it ideal for vision screening in all settings – from semi-urban areas and rural villages to remote communities. It is designed for use by primary vision care providers (such as Eye Mitra opticians) and NGOs working in vision care in developing countries, where the cost of an autorefractor can be out of reach.

The ClickCheck™ recorded three wins at the prestigious global International Design Excellence Awards in 2020: Gold in the Medical and Healthcare category; Silver in the Social Impact category; and the Jury Chair’s Award.

Winner of the Essilor’s See Change innovation challenge in 2016, the ClickCheck™ was conceptualized by US design consultancy TEAMS Design and was first known as “QuickCheck”. After refinement and field testing by teams from our Base of Pyramid Innovation Lab, 2.5 New Vision Generation and Center of Innovation and Technology, the ClickCheck™ was created.

Watch the video to see how it works: