Blog

October 28, 2016April 24, 2018

Safilo Announces New License Agreement for Rag & Bone Eyewear Collections

Padua/New York – Safilo Group announces a new license agreement for the design, manufacturing and worldwide distribution of the rag & bone collections of sunglasses and optical frames. The agreement will run for five years starting from January 2018 until December 31, 2022.

Rag & bone collections will cover both men’s and women’s ranges and will be distributed in all rag & bone directly operated stores, e-commerce site at www.rag-bone.com, boutiques, department stores and the best optical stores worldwide.

To read full press release, click HERE.

October 26, 2016May 19, 2026

Landmark Study: Myopia in Canadian Children Worsening

A new study from Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science and the CNIB has found that the eyesight of school-age Canadian children is deteriorating, and at a much younger age than in previous generations.

17.5 percent of children surveyed by the study were nearsighted. Between the ages of six and thirteen, myopia prevalence increased from 6 percent to 28.9 percent.

“Historically, myopia started at age 12 or 13, but now it is showing up more often in kids six or seven years old,” said Dr. Mike Yang, lead investigator and clinical scientist with the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR).

Even more concerning, nearly one third of these cases were going undiagnosed and uncorrected.

“Kids don’t know they can’t see the blackboard,” said Prof. Deborah Jones, co-lead investigator on the study and a clinical professor at Waterloo. “This kind of gradual deterioration in eyesight easily goes unnoticed without regular eye exams.”

The survey population involved children from the Waterloo region, though plans are in place to extend the study to populations across Canada, with an eye to examining the differences between ethnicities and environmental settings.

October 25, 2016May 20, 2026

10 Iconic Lipstick Shades and a Gorgeous Eyewear Release

Celebrate 25 years of Bobbi Brown cosmetics by wearing a gorgeous lipstick inspired ophthalmic frame, The Hemsley. A round acetate frame manufactured in Bobbi Brown’s stunning #10 lipstick shade of red. The Hemsley is accented with miniature screw details on the temples representative of the Bobbi Brown makeup packaging. This stunning frame is available in four glorious colours.

Distributed by Safilo: www.safilo.com

October 25, 2016April 24, 2018

Beautiful Products that Make a Difference

Carla D’Angelo, founder of Claudia Alan Eyewear is a Canadian entrepreneur with a vision. Celebrating over a decade in business and two successful brands, AYA and C4 eyewear, D’Angelo’s mission to create beautiful products that make a difference, hit a major milestone this summer: AYA, the company’s iconic line of eyewear featuring First Nations artwork, reached the $100,000 mark in donations to OneXOne’s School Breakfast Program.

“We are very grateful to Claudia Alan Inc. for its amazing support of the First Nations School Breakfast Program over the years. The latest of their gifts brings their total contribution to ONEXONE over $100,000! Because of this generosity, we were able to provide over 100,000 nutritious breakfasts to First Nations’ children all across Canada. Congratulations to Carla and her team!” said Joey Adler, ONEXONE Foundation.

October 24, 2016May 19, 2026

Essilor Reports Like-for-Like Growth in Third Quarter Revenues

Charenton-le-Pont, France – Essilor International announced that consolidated revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 totaled €5,306 million, representing an increase of 5.5% as reported.

Nine-Month Revenue

Combined growth (like-for-like growth plus acquisitions) came out at 7.8% and reflects the following key factors:
– A like-for-like increase in consolidated revenue of 3.8%, including good performances for Lenses & Optical Instruments and Equipment, and a slight decline in sales for Sunglasses & Readers, although business rebounded during the third quarter.
– Changes in the scope of consolidation contributed 4% to nine-month 2016 revenue, illustrating Essilor’s active acquisitions and partnerships strategy, especially in Europe and Latin America.

The currency effect reduced revenue by 2.3% in the nine months to September 30, due mainly to the depreciation of the British pound, Brazilian real, Chinese yuan, Canadian dollar and, although the impact diminished in the third quarter on the back of a rebound in the real.

Equipment

The Equipment division saw sales climb 5.4% like for like in the third quarter, and continued to benefit from the investment cycle across the optical industry. In North America, upgraded surfacing and coating machines boosted sales to independent laboratories and leading optical chains alike. Sales rose sharply in Latin America, driven by the growing take-up of digital surfacing equipment by small-sized laboratories. In Asia, strong sales growth was reported on the back of higher production capacity for both the domestic and export markets. Backlog is on the rise.

Acquisitions and Partnerships

Since the beginning of the year, Essilor has pursued its strategy of forging local partnerships by acquiring majority interests in 16 companies representing aggregate full-year revenue of around €205 million.

During the third quarter:
In Europe, Essilor completed the acquisition of MyOptique Group Ltd., a leading European online prescription glasses, contact lenses and sunglasses business. Based in the United Kingdom, MyOptique Group reported £57 million in revenue in its last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2016.

In addition, as announced on July 29, Essilor of America deepened its footprint in the United States by acquiring a majority stake in US Optical LLC, a New York-based wholesale optical laboratory with around US$35 million in annual revenue.

Click HERE to read the full press release.