• USA Today , Friday, December 26, 2008 10 AM

Thursday, September 4, 2008

It has been awhile since the optical business has been as charged by celebrity specs as it has by the rimless pair that Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin wears most of the time. If she wins, it could rock the vision-care market, which totals $26.6 billion a year, says tracker Jobson Optical Research.

"We keep getting calls from dealers who want to stock the exact shape and style that she's wearing," says Amy Hahn, vp at Italee, the U.S. distributor of the frames designed by Kazuo Kawasaki, a Japanese industrial designer. The Palin frame -- minus the lenses -- starts at a suggested $375. Depending on the type of lenses, the total package can run to $700.

Joy Leedham, owner of Home Optics in Chugiak, Alaska, went to Palin's home in late December and fitted her in her kitchen. Palin considered nearly 300 frames, then her family helped pick the winner from Kawasaki's 704 series. The color is 34 gray. The frames -- made from titanium and mounted via a screwless, tension system -- "help [Palin] look fashion-forward," Leedham says.

Read the whole story at USA Today »