Milan | Italy
Taking place over three days MIDO Milan Eyewear Show 2018, the world’s leading eyewear show, saw a record-breaking 1 305 companies take part in the trade show. This impressive number of exhibitors and contributors represents five of the seven continents.
This year sees the 48th edition of MIDO and was the largest one that the trade show has experienced to date. The event was sprawled out over 7 sold-out pavilions and covered a staggering 52 000 net sqm. This year the Eyewear Show 2018 further enjoyed a record-breaking number of representatives of the global eyewear industry as well as the number of attendees.
Noticeably in attendance was Milan’s Mayor, Giuseppe Sala as well as the Undersecretary to the Ministry of Economic Development, Ivan Scalfarotto. The Ministry of Economic Development, in an official statement, has confirmed its commitment to MIDO. The ministry stated that the trade show is ‘a pivotal event in promoting the growth of the country’s economic system.
The Italian Trade Agency‘s (ITA) hosted a buyers program that facilitated the invitation and attendance of 150 top buyers and international journalists to the event. This year’s theme is Innovation, specifically focusing on avant-garde creativity and cutting-edge developments in technology, design, style as well as in the manufacturing processes. Furthermore, eye health and eyecare has been highlighted as the main focus of the industry. Giovanni Vitaloni, the President of MIDO, commented:
“Innovation in the eyewear industry influences products as much as it does as much as it does consumption and consumers. This explains why MIDO is a not-to-be-missed event for everyone – from the largest groups to the smallest emerging businesses – if they want to be up on the latest innovations the market has to offer. This year we decided to give more prominence to the manufacturers of instruments, machines and components, which play a key role for the entire supply chain. Along with the group stands of the most compelling Asian manufacturers.”
This year’s event saw innovative changes made to the installations in the common spaces of the pavilions as well as to the exhibits. The creative team ensured that from corridor to square, every inch of the trade show was a visual feast of shapes, textures and designs.
“The meeting was conceived to bring together international influencers in the field of eye health and eyecare with the idea of sharing experiences, programs and good practices, as well as maximizing the efficacy of activities and messages about this topic. We hope to build new cooperative partnerships among industry players, who will have the opportunity to present their experiences before a highly-qualified audience of visitors from around the world. Guests include organizations and associations from Italy, France, the United States and Spain, to name only a few. Lastly, I would like to emphasize that for many years, MIDO has been committed to eyecare through its ongoing support of the Eyecare Commission, a non-profit association that provides, among other activities, free vision screenings across all of Italy.”
