All C-Suite Interview articles
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ArticleVisottica forges close-knit relations with customers and expands into new industries
Rinaldo Montalban, Chairman, discusses the consolidation of the group’s production activities in Italy, its plans for a new factory in Thailand, its sustainability initiatives and the increasing personalization of eyewear components, among other topics.
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ArticleSeaport-ODLM banks on portfolio diversification to boost export business
On the heels of a new European distribution partnership with Bollé Brands, French-based Seaport-ODLM is adding several brands to its portfolio in 2025 to address new market segments and grow outside its domestic market.
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ArticleKits CEO: 'We are building an eyewear business for the customer of tomorrow'
On its Investor Day last September, Kits Eyecare concluded its presentation with a bold and somewhat cryptic claim: “Setting our sights on 500 in 5.” This made for an obvious first question when we had to opportunity to sit down with Roger Hardy, co-founder and CEO of the Canadian-based pure ...
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ArticleBliz Eyewear launches rebranding after EssilorLuxottica takeover
A specialist in sports eyewear, ski goggles and helmets, the Swedish brand Bliz Eyewear was acquired by the EssilorLuxottica Group in January 2024, joining the company’s sports portfolio and adding a new entry-level price point. This portfolio also includes the sports eyewear brands Oakley and Costa. But Bliz has actually ...
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ArticleHow brick-and-mortar focus and vertical integration are driving JEH profitability
Upgrading its full-year outlook, the Japan-based retail group is now forecasting a 19 percent topline growth and a 31 percent operating margin. We ask JEH’s CFO about the drivers behind the group’s fast growth.
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Article‘We try to be responsible’
Alessandra Girardi, head of sustainability and co-owner of Vanni, tells us about how the Italian SME’s sustainability approach is rooted in local production and supply chain, internal commitment and outside expertise, and LCA calculations.
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ArticleEyewa secures $100m cash injection, plans to open 100 new stores in the Middle East next year
Competition in the Middle Eastern optical retail market is going to intensify further as eyewa, the fast-growing direct-to-consumer brand, just announced that it has raised $100 million in a new financing round to accelerate its store network expansion. The round was led by General Atlantic, a global investor with approximately ...
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Article“The last thing we want to be is a product for geeks,” Morrow Eyewear CEO
Morrow Eyewear just launched the third generation of its liquid crystal multifocal glasses. CEO Frederiek Ysebaert explains the recent upgrades and discusses the startup’s mid-term roadmap in terms of product development and distribution.
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ArticleItalian eyewear industry “strong and resilient” amid market slowdown
Italy’s eyewear industry has seen signs of a slowdown this year, but it is holding up remarkably well. That is clear in Belluno in Italy’s Veneto region, at the heart of the country’s eyewear production district, where factories are operating at full capacity and looking to grow. Lorraine Berton, the ...
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ArticleHong Kong-based Icare to open eyewear factory in France
Icare, the eyewear manufacturer based in Hong Kong, is investing over €5 million in the building of a new eyewear factory in France, which will complement its industrial structure that currently includes production sites in China and Cambodia. The new facility will be established in Vendôme, a small city in ...
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ArticleInnovation, digitization, sustainability and selective retail on 60 year-old Silhouette’s agenda
Silhouette celebrates its 60th company anniversary with product innovations while focusing on qualitative retail distribution, digitization, sustainability and independence.
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ArticleTokai looks to expand commercial and industrial footprint outside Japan
Limited by a gradually shrinking domestic market, Japan-based lens manufacturer is looking abroad for growth, notably in the US and the Middle East.
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ArticleJ.F. REY new owners look to balance brand DNA and changes while navigating supply chain issues
Almost three years after the acquisition of J.F. REY by a Franco-German trio of investors including Dan Levi and Ralf Kmoch of Visibilia, and Walter Pirinoli of Visioptis, we sat down with the French executive to discuss the evolutions and future strategic orientations of the Marseille-based designer eyewear brand. “While ...
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ArticleHinge specialist OBE Präzision adds Vietnam to industrial base, invests in smart eyewear and 3D printing
On the heels of the group’s investment in Italy, where it acquired OMM, a supplier of metal components for high-end eyewear manufacturers, we sat down with Erik Schäfer, CEO of OBE Holdings, mother company of hinge specialist OBE Präzision. “As a supplier of key components to the eyewear industry, ...
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ArticleUS startup picks eyewear market as launch pad for infinitely recyclable plastic material
As the world is grappling with an ever-growing amount of plastic waste, of which less than 10 percent is being recycled, our attention was brought to a California-based chemical start-up that claims it can produce an infinitely recyclable alternative material to high performance plastics. And, somewhat surprisingly for such a ...
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ArticleNew management structure and increased retail focus for MPG
Following the death at the end of 2023 of Dr. Michael Pachleitner, its founder and CEO, the eponymous MPG (Michael Pachleitner Group) is entering a new era of its history with a new management structure and a strategic focus on the development of its retail business unit. We sat down ...
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ArticleMazzucchelli takes further steps on sustainability journey
Mazzucchelli 1849 is building a new factory in its hometown of Castiglione Olona in northern Italy, set to be opened in the second half of this year. Giampietro Pedrazzini, CEO, spoke to us recently about how that facility fits into Mazzucchelli’s plans to reduce its environmental footprint, along with other ...
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ArticleStore network upgrade, digitization and HR key to Paris Miki rebound
Like all well-established Japan retailers across all sectors, Paris Miki is facing an apparently unsolvable equation: finding sustainable growth in a country where the population is forecast to decline by approximately five percent every ten years. While many of these companies are heavily investing to develop their business abroad, particularly ...
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Article“We need to train the eyewear factory workers of the future”
During our previous interview with Giovanni Vitolani in December, the president of Mido also shared some thoughts on the state of affairs in the Italian eyewear district and at ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association which he led for six years until December last year. “As anticipated after a solid ...
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ArticleMido, ANFAO put CSE front and center in 2024
Just a few weeks before the opening of Mido 2024, we sat down with Giovanni Vitaloni, president of the event, to talk about what exhibitors and visitors should expect for this next edition but also more generally about current and future strategic focus areas for the organizers. In the second ...
