An established eyewear company today, Tura was born out of "The House of Levoy," a dispensary
on Madison Avenue in New York City. (The name Tura was derived from the company product the
"Futura Mirror.") Here, eyewear was promoted as both a medical necessity and a fashion accessory.
In fact, in 1949, the Levoy family ran an ad for their business which said: "Because women
who wear glasses realize that there is no such thing as inconspicuous glasses, spectacle
frames assume their logical place as a fashion accessory." The young company also prided
itself on quality, with the first and only all-metal die-cast frames in the industry.
Company founder Monroe Levoy also believed that eyewear was just one part of a bigger
wardrobe. Tura, therefore, encouraged owning a wardrobe of glasses to match color schemes in
clothing. They even sold matching jewelry and frame sets for women and matching cufflinks and
frame sets for men. Ever the father of invention, in the 1940s Levoy introduced the
"Turanette," a double tiara design on a lightweight metal frame that held hair in place.
It is no doubt that Levoy's innovative fashion philosophies set the optical industry in motion.