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Having revealed in 2008 that it was to concentrate solely on its rimless offering and was discontinuing its rimmed product, Silhouette describes its new concept, 'Seeing without boundaries', as an international partnership programme which 'will re-define the relationship between the optician, end consumer and the Silhouette brand'.
Around 250 guests, the majority of whom were practitioners, were invited to the London event held at LSO St Luke's on Old Street on May 19 - an 18th century church used as a rehearsal space for the London Symphony Orchestra.
After a champagne reception the guests viewed presentations from Silhouette's board director for international design, sales and marketing, Arnold Schmied; Andreas Aschauer-Martinelli, international brand manager; and Mark Hobson, managing director of Silhouette UK.
The evening was one of four marketing events organised by Silhouette, with other functions taking place in Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh after 'a critical evaluation of its marketing spend', which saw the company withdraw from participation in Optrafair, according to a company statement earlier in the year.
As part of the new partnership programme, Silhouette is offering practitioners a new POS display and material, known as a Style Centre.
According to Hobson, Silhouette UK's managing director since the start of January, the Style Centre, with its system of specially designed collection trays, is a much more suitable environment for displaying rimless eyewear than a conventional wall display.
Elaborating on 'Seeing without boundaries', Hobson said: 'We have a very unique position in the marketplace we're not just selling a brand, we're selling a concept and how we position it in the marketplace. It's the full rimless package. We're very firmly setting out our stall.'
He explained that to enter into partnership with Silhouette, practitioners can choose one of three 'levels'. Selection, the entry level, which Hobson felt would interest many of Silhouette's customers, requires practitioners to stock three trays of eight frames as well as a highlight tray with four frames showing different colours, comprising a minimum order of 28 pieces. These frames will remain in the practice and when a customer buys a frame, it will be sent individually by Silhouette. When new collections and colours are introduced by Silhouette, Hobson said they would work with their partners to make sure old product is passed through or taken back.
Each of these trays will carry a different Silhouette rimless 'concept' one of which must be its flagship range, Titan Minimal Art - the Must collection. 'Nobody would stock Chanel fragrances without stocking Chanel Number 5,' he said.
Speaking of Silhouette's decision to focus solely on rimless eyewear, Hobson admitted that the popularity of rimless frames had diminished from the 'tremendous demand' of around five years ago when Sven Goran Eriksson symbolised the style's popularity.
However, he said that Silhouette had not seen any fall in demand, even with the recession. 'The more mature customers that we appeal to because of the nature of the product often have a high disposable income.'
Hobson added: 'We have a huge customer retention rate, which is borne out by talking to our customers. We've got very strong evidence that 95 per cent of the people who buy Silhouette continue to buy it again and again.'
The 'Seeing without boundaries' partnership concept will principally be aimed at the independent practitioner, said Hobson. 'There's a lot of talk in the industry about partnership and people joining forces, but we don't use that term lightly, he added.
For this reason he dismissed talk of Silhouette entering into partnership with a lens manufacturer.
'I'd never say no, but we have to respect that a lot of independent opticians have their preferred glazing practices and their own individual needs,' he revealed.
'The priority for us is to roll out the partnership models and get our partners onboard and happy and make sure its working for them as well.' ?