Issue #84 May 10 th 2017 Eugenio Razelli, the new President of Safilo A flurry of activity at Safilo The group has a new President pg. 3 Original T-shirts pg. 5 A dynamic reality WMIDO met the Founder and CEO of Mondottica, Michael Jardine pg. 2
A dynamic reality WMIDO met the Founder and CEO of Mondottica, Michael Jardine. Established in 2003 and headquartered in Hong Kong, Mondottica was founded by a Canadian who runs the company with working shareholders from Germany, Britain, France, India and Australia. Now the group has offices and operations in Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York and Sydney with distribution reach that spans all continents. Its product development team operates from London, Hong Kong, Canada and Paris. Holding the licenses for a wide range of lifestyle and fashion brands, namely Anna Sui, Cath Kidston, Christian Lacroix, Ducati, Hackett, Joules, Le Coq Sportif, Karen Millen, Maje, Marimekko, Pepe Jeans, Sandro, Ted Baker (worldwide except USA and Canada) and Zoobug, ensures that Mondottica caters for a broad demographic of style conscious consumers. The latest license agreement has been signed with Italian premium motorcycle brand Ducati for the brand s three collections: Ducati, Ducati Corse and Ducati Scrambler. And, according to Mondottica founder and CEO, Michael Jardine, a new agreement will be announced soon. In this interview he also talks about the recent acquisition of artisanal French eyewear manufacturer and distributor, Lunettes Yves Cogan. Ted Baker - Spring / Summer 2017 Could you introduce your group to our readers? Mondottica is a multi-faceted global eyewear company with operations in all key world markets and distribution reach in excess of 100 countries. From sales of US$100,000 in our inception year of 2002, we will exceed US$100 million in turnover next year. You have recently acquired the artisanal French eyewear manufacturer and distributor Lunettes Yves Cogan. What's the purpose of the acquisition? The Lunettes Yves Cogan acquisition met several criteria for us. It brought us a respected French brand, as well as giving us increased manufacturing capacity in France. Additionally, it gave us an additional sales force and distribution and logistics capability in France and, ultimately, in Europe. Another recent news is the license with Italian premium motorcycle brand Ducati. How will it develop? Ducati will be comprised of both beautiful sun and optical collections. It is currently in development and will launch at the coming Silmo. You are running really fast with these agreements! Shall we expect others? We expect another announcement quite soon. Last year Mondottica International merged with Mondottica USA: has this improved your performance in this market? Technically this was not a merger but we did acquire a controlling interest in the company. The resulting growth in sales and profit has been very gratifying. world weekly wonders WMIDO 2
Hailey Baldwin is the star of Bolon Eyewear campaign Italia independent pays tribute to the Fiat 500 The face of the new 2017 campaign for Bolon Eyewear - a brand in the Essilor group s portfolio since 2013 -is young American top model Hailey Baldwin. Chosen as the brand testimonial for the United States, Europe and China, Baldwin is well-known for her sense of style and avant-garde fashion that in just a short time made her one of the world s most famous trendsetters with over 9 million followers on Instagram. Shot in Los Angeles, the campaign tells the Be real, Be Unique story, the philosophy at the basis of the brand s communication. Essilor also announced that since April the brand has been available in Italy exclusively at Centri Specialisti Varilux and Eyecode Center. The eyewear - optical, sun and for children - is distributed by FGX International Italy, a group company since 2011. For the 60th anniversary of Fiat 500, Italia Independent pays tribute to the iconic car by presenting two exclusive, two-tone models characterised by neat and rounded lines that draw inspiration from the car's Neo Retro design. The neat, minimalist design of the frame blends with the metal details of the bridge and lens while the chrome plating details are reminiscent of the unique style of the 500, making the product look both elegant and dynamic. Anyone buying the limited and numbered edition of the iconic 500, the 60th Anniversary, will receive a pair of the glasses that celebrate the 60 years of the Fiat 500. The glasses are sold in all Italia Independent boutiques, online and in the best eyewear and fashion stores around the world. Ørgreen colours with fire A flurry of activity at Safilo Forever fascinated by the patina effect on metal, Ørgreen's design team longed to stray from the well-known route of colouring and painting the frames and venture into an experiment of working with patina and metal treatment. Going back to basics, to the rawness of the elements, they found the solution in a natural colouring method: Fire. And the result showed to be pretty unique. Using a special technique, they were able to imprint flame colours onto the titanium. Creating thus a truly special iridescent effect with frames ranging in colour from purple/blue to red/yellow depending on the temperature of the firing process. The result is On Fire, a limited edition series of six frames, three optical glasses and three sunglasses, where each piece is unique and will slightly change throughout time and wear. Recent weeks have been packed with new developments for the Padua-based group: it announced the appointment of Eugenio Razelli as its new chairman, it entered the Iranian market, and it renewed the Juicy Couture license through December 31, 2022. Razelli will take over from Robert Polet, who resigned from the position for personal reasons but will continue to be the company s Independent Director. The exclusive distribution agreement for the Iranian market with Maxivision, which operates in Iran with Noor Gostaran Azin Aryan Company, a local player in operation since 2007, is a step forward in the company s strategy for further consolidating its presence in the Middle East. This expansion follows the 2014 opening of a subsidiary in Dubai, the center of Safilo s new IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) Division, which includes Iran. world weekly wonders WMIDO 3
Two studies aimed at safety After the success of the Interreg V Italy-Austria 2014-2020 first call for proposals, another two studies by Certottica and Dolomiticert in the Interreg Dolomiti Live program were declared eligible and will focus on safety. Based on the fact that in recent decades the characteristics of air pollution have changed, Certottica will study an innovative device composed of eyeglasses and a filter mask designed to protect the eyes and the mucous membrane of the respiratory system from the dangers of particulates. The Fall Factor Reduction Project for users of via ferratas (mountain climbing routes) will combine the experience of Dolomiticert in endorsing protection devices, of Micado in prototyping, and the Soccorso Alpino dell Alta Val Pusteria (Mountain Rescue of Alta Val Pusteria) for its knowledge of problems in the field, aimed at developing a new device oriented toward preventing accidents in mountainous regions. Luxottica shows +5,2% Luxottica's first quarter revenues were up 5.2% as a result of the Group s strong performance in Europe and Latin America, a favorable foreign exchange rate environment and the excellent performance of the Ray-Ban brand which confirmed its vitality driven by the success of its latest collections and new Ray- Ban stores in China and United States. In the first three months of 2017, the Group continued to strengthen its business model and invest in the following strategic priorities: organizational simplification; brand equity and sales quality; innovation; the development of central laboratories for the production of ophthalmic lenses in Europe, North America and China (which are completely integrated in terms of logistics and production infrastructure); digitization; and further evolving the Group s global distribution platform. The Group also met certain conditions necessary for completing the transaction announced on January 16, 2017 with Essilor. Monoceros wins the Red Dot Design Award 2017 The Austrian eyewear Monoceros are created by bending a single plate of natural horn around the endpiece of the eyeglasses with a specially developed technology and refine it by hand. The company unisex model Ara was awarded with the Red Dot Design Award winner fashion design for high design quality. These glasses made of buffalo horn provide a charming and at the same time casual performance and are universally usable. The natural horn material is bent with specially developed technology around the end of the frame front. The creation from one single piece of horn ensures that fiber, color and structure of the horn are consistent throughout the whole frame. Turn over design by Mario Milana Denise Bafundo Senior Marketing Director Santinelli International Guido Guzzetti Chairman of the Control Risk and Sustainability Committee Safilo Filippo Pustetto Italy Country Manager Safilo Despina Tsagari Global Senior Director GVNV world weekly wonders WMIDO 4
Design, fashion & lifestyle Demon with Bowl. Ph. Prudence Cuming Associates Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS/SIAE 2017 Calm sensuality Martino Midali a Made in Italy fashion brand decided to present the fall/ winter 2017/18 collection in a harmonious reverberation of sound, light and color. An unusual setting: leafless trees, vertical gray wires that whisper winter; the birch, elegant white lady of the woods, emerges from the background to create a kind of forest in an imaginative intertwining of trunks. The collection is affected by different influences: it has one foot in the Far East and the other in Nordic fables. A line of controlled luxury, of unostentatious elegance, of calm sensuality: jersey is reborn with chiffon, pants are layered to make movement lighter, more mysterious, and lurex dresses create a dazzling trail of egocentricity. Damien Hirst s treasure created in the artist s studio? Perhaps the only way to find out is to visit it. The very famous British artist is being admired once again at an exhibition that is already of global importance: through December 3, 2017, at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, it is possible to visit Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable. The exhibition tells the story of an ancient, very wealthy collector - Cif Amotan II and the sinking of his legendary ship, the Unbelievable. For centuries people from all over the world have searched for the sunken ship and its treasure, but Damien Hirst is the only one to have succeeded. But did this collection really exist or were the objects Original T-shirts Forma by Zaha Hadid One of the latest product design projects created by Zaha Hadid for Alessi is Forma, the cheese grater that marks the celebration of a profitable collaboration that began in the mid- Eighties. Boldness, original language, challenging design and complex treatments are common to the Iraqi architect s works that are interpreted by the Italian brand as domestic architecture. The cheese grater is inspired by pure shapes that seem to have been smoothed by time and forces of nature like water and wind. Conceived as two elements that interconnect perfectly and harmoniously, it fits comfortably in the palm of the hand. Tung is a new brand of Made in Italy T-shirts. The name is an abbreviation of tungsten : a metal that produces light when heated inside a bulb. So, Tung means to illuminate - ironically-speaking - the world of art, literature and culture in general and wear it with the lightness of pop art. The #00 collection, for example, evokes Prometheus, the deity in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. The primeval fire that led to light and reason, the origin of man and the company itself. The collections do not follow fashion s seasons; they are unique editions that share top quality materials and vibrantly ingenious prints. Editorial Director: Francesco Gili MIDO Srl Unipersonale Via Petitti, 16-20149 Milano (Italy) Phone +39 02 32673673 P. Iva IT 07164050150 Cod. Fiscale e n. Iscr. Ufficio Imprese di Milano 07164050150 Cap. soc. 120.000,00 i.v. R.e.a. 1710133 Company subject to the direction and the coordination of Anfao - Associazione Nazionale Fabbricanti Articoli Ottici WMIDO is published in cooperation with Publicomm srl Piazzetta Brera 24/2-20121 Milano (Italy) P. Iva 02030290999 email: redazione@wmido.com world weekly wonders WMIDO 5