Vision Expo West 2022 concluded on Saturday, September 17. The four-day event, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from Sept. 14-17 at The Venetian Convention Center & Expo, brought together thousands of members of the industry.

“It was amazing to see the full scope of the vision care industry come together in Las Vegas last week, both on and off the Show Floor. From reconnecting at networking functions and parties to conducting business on the Show Floor and taking advantage of the brand-new CE program, there was so much energy and enthusiasm throughout the Show,” said Fran Pennella, Vice President, Visio Expo, at RX, co-organizer of Vision Expo. 

Vision Expo West 2022 featured more than 380 exhibiting companies across several distinct neighborhoods. Additionally, The Suites offered attendees access to established luxury fashion houses and the latest exclusive upmarket boutiques in an intimate and unparalleled buying experience.

Vision Expo’s all-new education program offered more than 320 hours of education, ranging from the latest business strategies and optical technology to patient care and innovations.  Returning to the Show, OptiCon®@Vision Expo offered an unmatched education program and Exhibit Hall experience for opticians, contact lens professionals, allied ophthalmic professionals, optical assistants and office managers, frame buyers and lab technicians.

This year, the Innovation Stage served as a main stage destination and a hub for collaborative learning and the host venue for the EYE2EYE Series panels, an educational series of interactive panels featuring industry experts in discussion on topics ranging from fashion trend forecasts to tactics for refining patient care. 

Vision Expo East 2023 will take place at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City from March 16–March 19, 2023. Details on registration will be released in the coming months.

Vision Expo West 2023 will take placeSeptember 27 -30, 2023. 

Click HERE for the full press release.

With the acquisition of William Morris London, Design Eyewear Group is expanding its portfolio of premium and mid-market eyewear for independent opticians all over the world, bringing the company closer to its goal of becoming one of the world’s leading multi-brand providers of designer eyeglass frames.

“I’m proud that Design Eyewear Group can today announce the takeover of such a reputable company with strong and exciting brands. With the acquisition of William Morris London, we’ve strengthened our position as a design brand house, and we’re pursuing our ambition to become one of the world’s leading multi-brand providers of design eyewear to independent opticians,” says Lars Flyvholm, CEO of Design Eyewear Group.

He continues: “William Morris London’s brands each have a unique story based on the British design philosophy. The brands’ DNA and position in the market fit perfectly with Design Eyewear Group’s growth strategy and product range.”

The founder of William Morris London is looking forward to the opportunity to grow further through Design Eyewear Group’s strong sales network. “I’m delighted that William Morris London is now joining a very professional and global company like Design Eyewear Group,” says Robert William Morris, who founded the company just north of London in 1996.

He continues: “I’m very proud of the development William Morris London has undergone since it all began more than 25 years ago. I’m also convinced that Design Eyewear Group is the right partner to grow the company further through their global sales network.”

Robert William Morris has agreed to continue in the new setup as Senior Brand Ambassador. In this role, he will ensure that both customers and employees worldwide gain an insight into the company’s DNA and the British design philosophy, while naturally ensuring that the design style is continued and further developed for all brands under the William Morris London portfolio.

Click HERE for the press release.

The climate crisis is threatening life as we know it. Since the beginning of industrialization, the climate has rapidly changed. The planet is warming up, causing extreme weather events on a global scale. Silhouette takes its responsibility towards the planet seriously. As the global market leader in rimless premium eyewear, the Austrian family-owned company thinks long-term, with an eye on the future.

Empowered by Lightness: A Vision for the Future

Silhouette is leading by example. For instance, it produces its premium eyewear using 100 % climate-neutral green electricity. Since September 2022, its production is also CO₂-neutral thanks to carbon reduction projects and offsetting. In the last seven years, the brand has been able to slash its carbon footprint in half. It achieved this in part by switching to its own solar power and installing large solar panels on the roofs of its eyewear production facilities. The company is also phasing out combustion vehicles and has already replaced a quarter of them with electric and hybrid alternatives.

Gold Standard Project: 6-megawatt Solar Energy Farm

Any emissions that Silhouette cannot eliminate so far are offset by purchasing certificates from Gold Standard projects. The Austrian premium brand is focusing on solar energy generation in the Global South. In its first year, the brand is supporting a 6-megawatt solar energy farm in India. The farm in Kolanupaka supplies 9,899 MWh of clean energy each year to the local power grid, which is currently still dominated by fossil fuels. It cuts emissions by 9,535 tons of CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent) each year. The project connects multiple solar farms to the grid, lowering emissions while also improving air quality and living conditions, and making the local power supply more stable and sustainable. This will also make it possible to set up a health camp for 400 people and provide medical treatment in cooperation with nearby Kamineni Hospital.

Click HERE for the press release.

MIDO 2023gets a fresh, entirely updated look and a new claim: “The Eyewear State of the Art”, one that embodies the values that have set the show apart for more than 50 years: innovation and tradition, beauty and transformation, international appeal and memorability, wonder and substance.

Entitled FRAMES, the new communication campaign is in the hands of creative director Max Galli, designer, artist and, as he likes to define himself, “creative explorer”, in partnership with the Mixer Group. Galli has crafted an authentic vision statement with a powerful intercultural and inclusive approach, based on cross-fertilization and colour, that serves as a unique frame for the product heroes – spectacles and the entire eyewear universe – that one by one, become metaphors for style and personality.

The campaign is built around four individuals, who will be revealed each month from today until December 15, and who embody the underlying principles of the MIDO philosophy: contemporaneity, culture, fashion and beauty.

MIDO 2023 is set for February 4-6, 2023, at Fiera Milano Rho.

Click HERE for the full press release.

Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC) is pleased to hear the announcement that Canadians are one step closer to accessing Luxturna® (generic name: voretigene neparvovec), a sight-saving gene therapy. The pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance has concluded price negotiations with the manufacturer for this groundbreaking treatment, which is aimed at Canadians losing sight due to inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis, caused by the RPE65 gene mutation. However, this treatment will not be accessible to all Canadians until one final step is completed: approving Luxturna for public funding through each province’s and territory’s health care coverage. 

“Living with an IRD has a significant socio-economic and emotional impact not just on the individual but also their entire family,” said Doug Earle, President & CEO of Fighting Blindness Canada, citing a recent IRD Counts study that found the socio-economic impact for Canada with IRDs is $1.6 billion. Eighty percent of this cost is borne by the individuals and their families. 

“Having access to a treatment that can help slow or stop progression of vision loss is life-transforming. This is the only treatment available for these individuals and we are asking Canada’s provinces and territories to recognize the hope Luxturna represents to restore sight and prioritize its access.”

“We’re calling on each provincial and territorial government to immediately sign the agreement to cover the cost of this treatment. It has been almost two years since Health Canada approved Luxturna, yet the individuals who desperately want this treatment still don’t have access to it and have been needlessly losing sight each day,” said Earle.

Fighting Blindness Canada is urging all Canadians to visit ApproveLuxturna.ca to send an email to their Premier and Health Minister to expedite access to Luxturna.  

Click HERE for the full press release.

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