IT’S SHOW TIME! THE 52ND EDITION OF THE WORLD LEADING EYEWEAR SHOW HAS STARTED

Day 1 proves once again that MIDO is the must-see show for the whole eyewear industry. 7 pavilions, over 1200 exhibitors, visitors from over 130 nations. An edition driven by new trends, business, training and innovation and with a focus on 'inclusiveness and sustainability.'

This morning, MIDO President Giovanni Vitaloni opened the show: "MIDO is the industry's point of reference because of its visitors, exhibitors, buyers and businesses who every year place their trust in us. Thanks to their ideas, this show is the place to be for trade professionals, trend lovers and all those who gravitate around fashion. We have been working for months to make this event unique, MIDO is primarily about innovation and new features, and never before have we had such a rich program with unparalleled content and very popular celebrities, not only from the eyewear industry but also from the fields of culture, lifestyle, current events and fashion".

MIDday TALKS are one of the brand new features of this year: during the "Imperfect Beauty" conference, sociologist Francesco Morace talked about beauty with Diego Dalla Palma, style expert and writer: the emerging mood was ‘Be you, but better’, a motto that highlights uniqueness, beauty without stereotypes and distortions, and has been adopted by the latest trends. The beauty industry has started to embrace this concept, through "improvements without guile" and with a constant focus on sustainability. One of the topics discussed at the conference was the relationship between face shape and its most important accessory: Diego Dalla Palma gave the audience very useful make-up and face treatment tips and tricks for glasses wearers.

One of today's events was the conference "Inclusive language - words matter" Empowering Optical Women Leadership programme," that highlighted the results a year after the launching of the programme to support women’s leadership in the eyewear industry, implemented by ANFAO under the patronage of Fondazione Marisa Bellisario (Italy) and the support of Ente Bilaterale Occhialeria, with the aim to provide insight into the current situation, identifying causes and difficulties, and setting guidelines and best practices.

ANFAO President Lorraine Berton opened the meeting, "Talking about women's leadership means not only to talk about women but also about development and growth in general. There is an enormous potential yet to be explored. I need only to mention a national-level figure: if women's employment raised from 49 percent - as it was in 2021- to the same percentage as men's, namely 67.1%, GDP would grow by 12.4 percent., according to the figures published by McKinsey Global. Inclusiveness is therefore a cultural, social but, first and foremost, ethical necessity, because women with power could change many things."

Writer and author Chiara Tagliaferri also spoke at the conference and dived deep into the issues of the gender pay gap in Italy, the still too marginal role of women in the workplace, and the importance of women striving for financial independence: in her inspirational speech, she cited examples like Jane Austen, Simone De Beauvoir, Virginia Wolf, Annie Ernaux, but also Dynasty and Joan Collins/Alexis.

"According to financial therapists, we chose how to deal with money when we are approximately seven to eight years old. Hence, if as children we are told that money has nothing to do with us and that it's rude to talk about it, we will grow up facing this gap and eventually will consider normal to be paid less than men for the same job. With Morgana and Michela Murgia we concluded that money remains the greatest superpower: for centuries we could not have personal property because we were treated as property," Chiara Tagliaferri said.

EVENTS AND GUESTS

Entrepreneur Brunello Cucinelli hosted by EssilorLuxottica, Lapo Elkann at the MODO booth, Alyssa Carson, an astronaut training for the first mission to Mars, at the Silhouette booth, fashion designer Philipp Plein at the De Rigo booth, artist Bego Martin and Norwegian rally driver Andreas Mikkelsen at the Safilo booth were among the celebrities of day 1.

OTTICLUB also hosted the first HOW TO? series of meetings that was launched last year and focuses on the daily activities of opticians' centres. Talking with Valentina Ventrelli, Silvia Butta Calice explained how to understand the opportunities offered by the new social platforms.

AWARDS
Sunday 4, will be devoted to the now-famous MIDO contests: at 3 p.m. at OTTICLUB (Hall 1), the BeStore, Stand Up For Green, and CSE - Certified Sustainable Eyewear awards, given every year by MIDO to optical stores, exhibitors and eyewear businesses will be presented by Giovanni Vitaloni and Petra Loreggian.

Lastly, one of the new features of day 1 is the announcement of the Sergio Cereda Eyewear Design Award, which aims to identify and inspire new talents in eyewear design worldwide. A tribute to Sergio Cereda, an influential figure and a game changer in eyewear design, the award will be assigned during MIDO 2025.

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