It has certainly been a busy and hot summer in New York City. I have spent my weekdays in the scorching city and luckily escaped to the beach almost every weekend. I’ve enjoyed trips away to Upstate New York and the Hamptons. I’ve wandered around Central Park with family and spent long breezy days at the beach surrounded by friends. While go-go-go summers can be hectic at times, they are certainly the most memorable.

Fall always feels like a restart for me. As the weather cools down, everyone in the city seems to have a renewed energy. It’s a new season to get back into your fitness goals, catch up on current fashion trends and typically a slowdown from the jam-packed summers we experience each year. This fall, however, is already lining up to be pretty busy. I’m looking forward to moving this month, which feels like a fresh start with a new apartment, furniture, decor and neighborhood to explore. My autumn weekends will be spent celebrating friends with housewarmings, bridal showers and weddings as they begin their next chapters. And most excitingly, I’ll be traveling to Paris for SILMO 2024 to check out brand new eyewear collections.

Paris has become one of my favorite cities as I have gotten the chance to explore and get to know it better each year. I love sitting outside at cafes leisurely people watching, wandering around the city and of course, all the shopping. SILMO is also one of my favorite trade shows. It’s large and bustling, but somehow doesn’t feel too overwhelming. There are so many amazing French eyewear brands that are creating optical and sunwear styles that are so different from what we see in the States. I’m grateful that I get to meet many of these designers and see their work up close and in person.

If you don’t have the opportunity to fly to Paris this month for SILMO or to Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, we have you covered. This special edition What’s Brand New issue is designed to be your guide for all the releases on our radar. We are also sharing our extensive fall eyewear preview, 20/20’s exclusive Olympic experience with Oakley, influential voices in our industry and stats on how consumers are frame shopping. I hope you enjoy this labor of love and use this season as the opportunity you have been waiting for to try something new.

—Jillian Urcelay