PARIS. Despite fears of a recession, the mood at the recent Silmo eyewear show was optimistic.
Silmo president Amelie Morel said the number of exhibitors and attendance – 27,000 visitors – were on par with the pre-pandemic version. With 50% of the traffic coming from outside of France, a large number of visitors from America and the Middle East, who were not at the show before the start of the pandemic, have returned in large numbers.
“It was a real surprise,” Morel said. “This is proof that our industry still needs exhibitions and is an important moment for the industry as a whole.”
“We are very happy to be back in Silmo with so many people,” said Antonio Jove, head of Marcolin EMEA. “Last year’s edition was still affected by the COVID-19 restrictions and it’s great to see people now… are finally getting back to their ‘habits’… Live meetings are very important in our industry.”
The optical industry performed well in the first half of the year, with exhibitors downplaying fears of an economic slowdown. Christelle Barranger, President of EssilorLuxottica EMEA Wholesale, said: “I think this issue will be at the center of the discussion, but perhaps Silmo is not the forum for discussion because it was so exciting at the time.” to them Decisions were made more cautiously, [but] there was also a feeling of confidence that we would pass.”
Moritz Krüger, co-founder and CEO of German high-quality manufacturer Mykita, said: “Our sales representatives had a great summer and we heard that customers around the world are very satisfied with the sales. The condition is very satisfactory, so we can sell again.”
“Europe this year was the same as North America was last year, so there was a very important rebound,” said Angelo Trocchia, chief executive of the Safilo group, who returned after leaving the show last year. “In Europe, we are doing well, but in North America everything is more normal, because last year they had a huge rise. The rest of the world is fine.”
He continued: “If I look ahead, I’ll be more careful … Inflation is starting to materialize, and I think at the end of the year we’ll see how consumers start to react to it.”
Observers say eyewear companies have a strong presence in the high-end and entry-level categories. “Luxury is clearly booming, and as [medical] reimbursement decreases, entry-level offerings are also growing faster for a while,” Barranger said.
Meanwhile, supply chain tensions remain and are expected to affect prices going forward. “Inflation is rising in some parts of the world, so we are evaluating what this impact will be and how to mitigate it,” said Barranger. “We are doing everything we can to absorb inflation, and we are very cautious about how we can affect prices.” .
“I know that most of the competitors have raised their prices,” Krueger said. “We are not going to raise prices, at least not this year. We will have to see everything that will develop there.”
The introduction of bottom-up and bottom-up technologies was the main theme of the four-day fair, which ended on September 26, and became the theme of the new digital village space. “We want to be the vehicle to help the eyewear industry make its own digital revolution,” says Sebastian Brusse, CEO and creative director at Jaw Studio Lyon, who is helping shape the new region.
EssilorLuxottica – the only major eyewear company to use smart glasses when it partnered with Meta on Ray-Ban Stories – has unveiled its latest innovation, a line of eyewear designed specifically for gaming under license from Oakley. The frames are designed to be worn with headphones and have flexible arms, while lenses are used to improve screen contrast, including on OLED displays, and filter out blue light.
“When you think of smart glasses, people say it’s a portal to the metaverse of the future, but they’re already starting to be used in glasses like video games,” Barranger said. “That makes me passionate about smart glasses: tomorrow they will be connected to the digital world.”
Swedish company Skugga is demonstrating what it claims is changing smart glasses technology as its modules can be integrated into any brand of frames. Alf Ericsson, Chief Product Officer, explained that our goal is “not to build technology that fits into a device that people won’t use.” “Over the past two years, we have seen a dramatic change in the willingness to accept [eyeglass manufacturers who realized that] otherwise the big tech companies would dominate the eyewear industry the way they ruled the watch industry.”
After seven years of development, the production-ready technology is capable of measuring motion and environmental factors, with a range of potential downstream benefits, from estimating the user’s exposure to pollution and light to providing posture and sports information. as well as an open ecosystem for app developers. The company received the prestigious Silmo d’Or award in the Technology Innovation/Connected Products category.
Observers point out that the optical industry has been slow to join the tech tide, largely because much of the industry is still dominated by independent opticians. “Optics are often family businesses and they can be technology resistant,” said Cody Cho, vice president of global marketing at Dita. “In terms of technology, glasses are three to four years behind.”
A Silicon Valley native, Cho has been making data a part of Dita’s world for years. “We use a lot of technology to make predictions,” he said.
For example, other eyewear heavyweights were featured at the visitor-exclusive show to showcase their own capabilities as tools to simplify ordering and improve inventory management, which was the subject of a presentation by Microsoft Director of Product Marketing Otman Chiheb.
A few years later, trendy oversized bezelless designs like Dita’s Embra — the first bezelless model exclusively for women in 20 years — are striking, according to designer Louis Lee, but a few years after the dominance of corded models in 2010, the brand also switched to acetate. frames.
The brand is capitalizing on demand for its luxury eyewear and is expanding its offline stores on high-end shopping streets, Cho said, with recent openings on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Brompton Road in London. Cho said the company aims to open seven or eight more stores over the next few years, targeting cities like Miami, Las Vegas, Mykonos, Shanghai, Dubai and Singapore.
Reimagining traditional brands is a hallmark of many Marcolin brands such as Pucci and Zegna designed with their new logos.
In general, eyewear makers have seen strong demand for chunky, square-shaped frames, eye-catching details, and the transition from black to brown, which has faded into the background in recent years.
The shift in the positioning of some specialists is obvious. Shafiro, which has suffered in recent years from the loss of several lucrative licenses including Dior, Gucci and Fendi, is restructuring its product portfolio. The group is looking to increase its presence in the womenswear space with, for example, Carolina Herrera, whom it signed with last year, as well as other lifestyle brands such as Boss and Isabel Marant, as well as through its own brands Polaroid and Carrera. . “We’re really covering a very wide spectrum right now,” Trocchia said, “At the moment we’re doing well, new licenses are going well, legacy licenses are going well, our own brands are going well….”
Some large companies have made progress in sustainability. Safilo showcased frames and lenses made from chemically recycled Eastman Renew material, while Mykita switched to the material in all of its acetate frames and claims to be the first to do so across its entire line. account for about half of their portfolio, did not raise prices.
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Post time: May-18-2023