SILMO Paris 2022: Europe’s Largest Optical Trade Show
After a two-year absence, trade shows are slowly tiptoeing back to life. And we couldn’t be more excited. SILMO Paris – the largest of the European trade shows – made a welcome comeback at the end of September. Businesses and brands from the optical industry headed to the exhibition centre, Paris Nord, on the outskirts of Paris. And we were one of many who made the journey to France to check out what was new in the eyewear industry.
At the heart of the eyewear world for over fifty years, SILMO Paris is a huge exhibition. In addition to housing over 1500 brands of eyewear, it delivers many educational workshops and lectures throughout the weekend. The trade show is also an opportunity to launch new and innovative optical products into the European marketplace and announce the prestigious SILMO D’or Awards. The awards give recognition to the talent and creativity throughout the eyewear industry. There are many categories championing frames, lenses, and equipment. New brands get discovered, collections are updated, and new models are released. Informative lectures are delivered, and demonstrations of new equipment take place. A lot of business occurs over the busy four days.
All the companies we work with were at SILMO Paris, showcasing their new releases and models. There was a real buzz of excitement throughout the halls as people came together after a long break and reacquainted themselves with friends and colleagues. We visited many of our existing suppliers and viewed their exciting new releases. Vinylize had some gorgeous new models on display. As we’ve not been able to travel to shows recently, it has meant that the companies that supply our eyewear have also not been able to visit us. So, there are many new eyewear pieces that we haven’t seen. One of these is L.G.R, the handmade Italian brand, which is beautifully handcrafted in Italy and takes its inspiration from Africa.
A fabulous story of a bygone era and traditional artisan craftsmanship, we first brought the L.G.R collection to Market Harborough in 2018 when we opened Respectacle. And we continue to stock L.G.R because we love how they mix traditional methods of manufacture with innovative developments, bringing the brand through into the 21st century but keeping the values and designs alive. Head to our L.G.R Eyewear page to learn more about the inception of this beautiful brand.
We’re not the only ones who love L.G.R eyewear. They have a growing list of celebrities who also love wearing their eyewear, from Prince William, Tom Cruise and Lewis Hamilton to Kate Hudson, Emma Roberts, and Maria Sharapova. You can also regularly spot many of their designs on television and in movie theatres. L.G.R frames appear in the Netflix series The Sandman, Emily in Paris, and the Mission Impossible films.
We also popped along to see our good friends Theo Eyewear. The stand was a bit bonkers. But so is their eyewear, and we probably love it more now than we did when we took our first delivery back in 2018. Theo has some new releases which we are delighted to now offer in our Market Harborough shop. Their latest release is inspired by racing circuits, with models Le Mans, Monza, and Silverstone.
We are also excited to welcome Caroline Abram back into the store again. We love the Caroline Abram brand, known for its beautiful feminine lines and flowing combinations of colours in metal and acetates.
Whilst at SILMO, we popped by to see Albert I’mStein and Gigi Studios, both of which we stock. We then headed off to look at the Feb31st stand and its unique wooden eyewear with never-ending colour combinations. All in all, it was an interesting, exciting, and productive weekend. We cannot wait to head back to Paris again next year.
To view our eyewear collections, including the latest models from Vinylize, Theo, Albert I’mStein and L.G.R, please pop by the store for a browse. Not local? No problem! You can also visit our online shop to see what we stock.
Further reading:
Albert I’mStein: The Latest Addition to The Respectacle Family
