Southfield’s See, an eyewear company started by the Golden family, has partnered with an international entertainer on a collection of handmade Italian eyeglass frames. The collection is slated to hit stores and be available online in November.
The new line with Howie Mandel, a comedian, television personality, screenwriter, actor, and game show host, will be called See x Howie Mandel eyewear and feature both metal and combinations of metal and acetate. The tagline for the collection is “This is Howie See.”
Mandel was the host of CNBC’s “Deal or No Deal,” played Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC show “St. Elsewhere,” starred with Amy Steel in “Walk Like a Man,” and created and was the voice for the children’s cartoon “Bobby’s World” on FOX. He also is a judge on “America’s Got Talent” on NBC.
“I’m so thrilled to be partnering with See for my Howie See 2020 collection, which hopefully reflects the perfect vision of fun and style while helping boost mental health in underserved communities,” Mandel says.
A portion of all sales from the collection will be donated to the Boris L. Henson Foundation, which works to change the way mental health is perceived in the black community. The nonprofit was founded by American actress and author Taraji P. Henson in honor of her father.
The organization seeks to encourage mental health support in urban schools, increase the number of black therapists, and reduce the number of people who return to prison after release by offering mental health support to those who were formerly incarcerated.
“I have always not just admired Howie’s incredible wit, but also his deep compassion which always comes along with the causes he puts energy into,” says Richard Golden, founder and CEO of See. “Howie has an incredible sense of style, and I’m honored by how he’s gravitated to our See Eyewear brand.”
See will produce a limited number of each frame – sometimes only two per color for each city or store.
“We’ve spent the last 22 years blazing new trails, building an iconic brand, and truly changing the way consumers view purchasing unique fashion eyewear,” says Golden. “My partner is my brother, Randal, who handles the lab operations and manages the buying process, while my son, Seth, is an integral part of the day to day operations of the business. We are proudly family owned and operated.”
See glasses have been featured in Esquire, InStyle, GQ, Marie Claire, Elle, O Magazine, WWD, Essence, and other fashion digital and print magazines nationally and internationally. The company operates 43 stores nationally with locations in New York City, Los Angeles, South Beach, Boston, San Francisco, Georgetown, Chicago, Nashville, Toronto, Charleston, and more.
Prior to See, the Golden family operated D.O.C. in Southfield, which was founded by the late Donald Golden, Richard and Randal’s father, in the late 1950s. Following a successful career in advertising, Richard joined D.O.C. in 1977 and sales took off following a series of popular commercials where he danced as part of the tagline, “Sexy Specs.”
Other memorable advertising promotions included Richard’s “You have my word on it!” tagline to a silky-smooth James Brown slide to an early appearance with the rap group Run DMC that propelled the retailer to record revenue and profits, year after year.
In 2007, D.O.C. was sold to the Italian house of Luxottica. At the time of the sale, D.O.C. had 105 stores and revenue of $100 million.
For more information, read DBusiness magazine’s profile of Richard Golden here.
