Safilo is responding to requests from the retail optical market by making more and more of its fashion-branded sunglass products glazeable with high quality prescription lenses.
Speaking at the London media launch of the Safilo spring/summer 2008 eyewear collections Safilo UK sales director Marco Patalano said opticians were increasingly reluctant to sell plano fashion sunglasses that didn't have the option of being 'comfortably' glazed with a variety of lenses.
He said the market was 'very mixed' at the moment but some lens-driven trends were emerging.
Patalano said Safilo saw trends within the department stores and trends within the optical market. The market would see more and more mirror coatings, as is the case in the trend-driving countries of southern Europe, he predicted. Consumers are increasingly brand sensitive and customers wanted good quality lenses to offset a good quality frame. 'A nice pair of Gucci sunglasses needs ophthalmic lenses. We have responded to the request of the market and we have made a conscious effort to make more models that are fashionable glazeable. We have had more and more requests from opticians to do that.'
This niche for the independent sector had not been satisfied, he said. 'We have listened to their requests and I think it is going to be important from a commercial point of view.'
Safilo was showing the additions to all its collections in London, but Patalano said this was not because of its non-attendance at Silmo last month. 'We were not at Silmo, that was a management decision.' He said Safilo had shown its 2008 collections a month before Silmo and said the show was not in line with the market any more. Referring to the Italian show in Milan next May, Patalano said: 'It's quite nice for us to focus on Mido.'