When hot is hot
As soon as the fashionistas want it, so do thieves
Past and present devotees of Dolce & Gabbana eyewear include Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, and Charlize Theron.
And, reputedly, Jose Cepeda.
Cepeda and the designer D&Gs he was cozying up to, police say, were probably not destined for the red carpet.
More likely the black market.
Last month, responding to an alarm for a break-in at 2:37 in the morning, officers followed footprints and a trail of designer eyeglasses strewn outside the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center's optical shop and came upon Cepeda, a tattooed 24-year-old neighborhood resident with a previous B&E conviction already on his rap sheet.
Cepeda was arrested and charged with breaking into the Dorchester center three blocks from his house with the intent to steal high-fashion frames, such as $355 Dolce & Gabbanas and $200-plus Escadas.
Cepeda has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Nashua Street Jail.
Authorities say that whoever lifted those glasses - and Dorchester House staffers say around 160 frames went missing that early March 1 morning - may have been drawn there by the dictates of supply and demand, which apply as much to back-alley businesses as above-board enterprises.
Once considered the klutzy necessity of four-eye nerds everywhere, reading glasses - and their always-cool counterpart, shades - are now among the fastest rising fashion pieces on the market, according to industry observers.
From sexy underwear, to celebrity-driven eyewear, to techno-hip iPods, it doesn't take long for the hits of the mainstream fashion world to become hot items for the criminal underworld.
Less than a New York minute, in fact.
"About 10 seconds," says Boston Police Detective Steven Blair, a trend-spotting specialist assigned to the department's Special Investigations Unit. "Whatever's big in fashion, the bad guys will target."
In 2007, eyewear accounted for the biggest growth spurt among all fashion accessories in the United States, according to consumer purchases tracked by retail-market research firm The NPD Group, rising 32 percent from the year before. Next in line were handbags (16 percent) and technology accoutrements like cases for iPods and cellphones (14 percent).
With designers slapping their eye-catching logos on the edges of their frames, eyeglasses are sleek and simple symbols of status.
"Eyewear has now become the first thing you see when a person enters the room," says Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief analyst. "The glasses arrive before you do. If you can get your image to proceed you, that's total fame."
And unlike having to shell out $1,795 for a Dolce & Gabbana "coated canvas frame" handbag, paying only $355 for a pair of D&G eyeglass frames lets you look like a bigshot at relative bargain-basement prices.
For those looking for an absolute steal, buying from illicit sources can be even cheaper: in some cases 10 cents on the dollar wholesale to 20 or 30 cents per buck retail, according to police and industry analysts.
Eschewing the fashion shows of New York and Paris, the local black marketeer can get a feel for what will sell without even leaving his living room.
There are sports and music and movie stars to emulate, as everyone wants to be Jack Nicholson, wearing his sunglasses day and night, outdoors and in. With paparazzi snapping shots at all hours and places, regular eyewear has gained even more cachet as a fashion statement, says Cohen, as celebs are more likely to be captured in their everyday eyeglasses rather than their cover-shot contact lenses.
Those thieves lacking any sartorial sensibilities are known to simply snag the eyeglasses with the highest price tags.
Whatever his felonious muse, a frequently convicted larcenist named Eric Lawson made a name for himself (and his three aliases) during a dizzying four-day eyeglass jag on Newbury Street in 2006, according to law enforcement authorities.
Even before high-end eyewear had reached its current megatrend, court records show, Lawson walked into Cohen's Fashion Optical one October afternoon and headed straight for the $1,700 gilded Cartiers.
"I'm taking these; don't get hurt over this," Lawson told a female employee after he pushed her against a display case, according to court records.
And so he did, he and an accomplice making off with a half-dozen frames, Cartier and other selected designers, valued at more than $5,000, records say.
Lawson seemed well practiced.
Only weeks before, he had hit the Solstice sunglass boutique across the street.
"I'm gonna take some glasses. I don't want to hurt anyone, so don't move," he allegedly said as he motioned to the Banana Republic bag he was carrying as if hiding a weapon inside.
Lawson swiped eight pairs of Chanels priced at $290 each, and fled, court documents show.
Two days later, he and his Banana Republic bag returned.
"You know what's up; I don't want to hurt anyone," he said, and took off with 18 to 20 more Chanels, according to police.
The next day, Lawson was back again, this time brandishing a can of mace. "Open the glass. I ain't touching nothing," he allegedly said.
As he and an associate left the store with a haul that prosecutors valued at about $50,000, Lawson was said to warn, "Don't follow us; we have somebody watching."
A Solstice representative declined comment.
To unload such a catch, police say outlaws no longer look to arrange deals at flea markets, which used to be popular resale venues but have now become the domain of designer knock-offs.
Instead, police say, they may turn to local mom-and-pop clothing stores, selling low to make quick money to feed a burning drug habit.
From there, police say, the neighborhood clothier may keep the eyewear under the counter, quietly advertising the product through word-of-mouth.
In other instances, police say, a thief may already be working with a third-party retailer, such as a nonfranchise eyeglass outlet, and is given specific directions on what to loot from another store.
Or the bandit can offer his goods directly online, pilfering from local businesses and then auctioning the booty to a far-reaching audience.
"EBay has become the world's largest pawn shop," says Richard
But police say that they now patrol websites as well as the streets, and that those who want to look chi-chi but buy on the cheap may have to pay the price.
"You're looking like a million dollars," says Blair, the Boston detective. "The only problem is law enforcement has been looking for you, too."
In the case of 40-year-old Eric Lawson, who was known to run around in a hoodie and Cartiers, police collared him after witnesses identified him from a photo lineup.
Last year, he was convicted in the multiple robberies and sent to prison.
As for Jose Cepeda, officers hunted him down by tracking his sneaker prints in the snow.
Police say they found him bloodied, and in the vicinity of a black metal pipe they suspect he used in the break-in, and a scattering of fancy eyewear. They recovered 10 pairs in all.
Cepeda is due back in Dorchester District Court tomorrow.
Ric Kahn can be reached at rkahn@globe.com.
