Jacques Fay, who works with the Paris-based designer, was in London recently to introduce changes to the company. He says: 'Alain Mikli sets up a subsidiary when the market is open and has a future. This is the right time for the UK, especially as London is an important centre for fashion, design and lifestyle at the moment.' Together with its own ranges of Alain Mikli Lunettes and the diffusion line, Mikli by Mikli (which were until recently distributed by London-based In-Specs), the company is now distributing frame collections from designers Montana, Philippe Starck, Jil Sander, Marithé et Frânçois Girbaud and Frédéric Fakkai from subsidiaries based in Europe, Asia and the US. In the UK, seven sales representatives will be employed to sell the two Mikli collections and a second team will be employed for the other collections. The company, which diversified last year into clothes design, this year launches a range of small leather goods including handbags and wallets. To highlight the importance of new technology in its frame designs, the company is creating a separate new technology department. Out of this, Mikli Vision, a video camera and sound system incorporated into a pair of frames, will be introduced on to the market by the end of the year, says Mr Fay. The company is marketing the camera, which records from its position on the side of the temple, as 'the first eyewear to give life to what you are seeing'. Alain Mikli Lunettes has sold 700,000 pieces world-wide during the past 20 years, concludes Mr Fay. The company is planning to sell a further 700,000 pieces in the next five years.