From OOmade’s revolutionary 3D-printed courtesy frames to Vanni’s commitment to responsible manufacturing, the winners exemplified a future where innovation meets creativity. This year’s accolades highlighted everything from smart glasses powered by AI to specialised frames for premature infants, showcasing the industry’s relentless pursuit of better vision and better lives.
Technological Innovation In Eyewear
OOmade has invented the concept of courtesy frames thanks to its patented 3D printing solution. OOmade has developed a 3D software platform and provides a 3D printer, enabling a broken frame to be repaired in a few minutes, in front of the customer. The frames are made from bio-sourced and recyclable materials. Opticians can thus offer a premium, differentiating service. This 3D after-sales solution revolutionises the in-store customer experience.
Technological Innovation In Eyewear
Ray-Ban Meta, the new generation of smart glasses born from the partnership with Meta, will be enhanced with artificial intelligence as of October 2024. These glasses of a new kind allow users to stay connected, capture life moments, and consume digital content while offering visual correction and protection with Ray-Ban’s iconic style. Thanks to AI, they can identify what users see and assist them in their daily lives, making technology as simple as wearing glasses.
Children
Lafont, a specialist in pediatric eyewear, presents its first model specifically designed for premature infants. Roudoudou has been developed specifically for premature babies, with dimensions and geometry adapted to their needs. The frame is injection-molded and made from a bio-based material derived from castor oil. The optical and morphological challenges of premature infants led us to start from scratch. The frame is intended to be worn permanently from the very first months.
Sport
Acuity is able to correct an extremely wide range of visual disorders, offering unprecedented clarity of vision without sacrificing weight or field of view. Acuity’s ophthalmic lenses milled from solid are at the heart of its revolutionary design. In contrast to the standard on the market, Acuity’s ophthalmic lenses are milled from a single block of material, assuring precise and uniform correction of visual impairment and maximum performance.
Vision
Transitions® GEN STM revolutionises ophthalmic optics with the first dynamic lens that is ultra-reactive to light. Combining protection, visual performance, and aesthetics, it adapts to all lighting conditions. Its innovative design offers optimised kinetics and darkening levels, as well as vibrant colours. Clinically validated, it redefines prescription lens standards for optimal everyday wear.
Material / Equipment
Eyesoft is a pioneering French company in uses virtual reality and eye-tracking to offer innovative visual examination solutions. Eyesoft Check Lenscape is an application with two key features. Check detects binocular vision disorders, assesses visual fatigue risks, and enhances accommodative performance. Lenscape simulates lens geometries, tints, and polarised lenses.
Lona 5 is an eyewear design and manufacturing software. Its particularity is a downstream design which simplifies handling and makes the software accessible to anyone without design knowledge. Lona 5 also allows you to obtain and check the manufacturing program on CNC with a simple click, without any special skills.
Low Vision
VoiSee is an innovative visual aid device for the visually impaired, designed for both near and far vision. VoiSee is an electronic monocular that is placed in front of one eye, allowing users to magnify images, read text, freeze the image, and adjust visual settings such as contrast with simple controls. Its lightweight and ultra-compact design allows for easy portability and one-handed use.
Optical Frame – Labels
Oversized acetate glasses with an iconic vintage shape. In this model, past and present merge thanks to the geometric temples that balance the rounded front. The iconic grosgrain motif is visible on the inside and the Nina Ricci lettering logo adorns the left temple. Available in this shaded colour variant, inspired by the iconic Nina Ricci model worn by Jacqueline Kennedy.
Sunglasses – Labels
The ZILLI frame features grained leather inserts on the bridge and temples, highlighted by gold titanium. It is exceptionally soft and light, with integrated flex hinges for perfect adaptability.
Sunglasses – Eyewear Designer
CENSUR is the result of an internal design session where rules were set aside, allowing creativity to push the limits of traditional eyewear design. Born from free-flowing ideas and the playful exploration of geometrical shapes and clean lines, CENSUR is a testament to unbounded creativity. A thin sheet construction is cleverly seen throughout the design, adding depth and dimension to this sculptural eyewear. CENSUR proves that design doesn’t have to know any boundaries.
Optical Frame – Eyewear Designer
Man acetate frame.
Prix Special Du Jury
The “MORPH alpha – Clara Besnard” is a frame made entirely of spare parts and old stock sourced from the workshops of the futuristic eyewear brand Parasite and the vintage optical shop Bidules. The artist and designer Clara Besnard handcrafted the MORPH1 as a tentacular system, with its main roots formed from a Parasite MORPH V01 (2003) and secondary roots made of acetate temples and fronts from the 1970s-80s.
Prix RSE
The winning company was chosen for its minimalist approach aimed at slowing down the consumption of eyewear: timeless frames that are only launched when new to reduce the need for renewal, timeless packaging (often without printing), to limit the need for redesigns, the availability of identical spare parts for all models, or on-demand production to avoid overstocking… The company also demonstrated an approach that takes into account the entire lifecycle of the frames, which are, for example, made from a single material (100% stainless steel, including nose pads) to maximise recycling.
Vanni The first Italian company in the eyewear industry to become a “Società Benefit” (the Italian equivalent of a Company with a Mission) in 2021, Vanni has demonstrated its ability to monitor its social, environmental and societal CSR performance in terms of figures and best practices. The company even goes so far as to have its employees rate its performance in various areas (via a survey). 100% of VANNI’s staff have taken training modules on sustainable development (between 5 and 22 hours of training per employee). In 2023/2024, the company carried out an internal reorganization guided by an organisational psychologist to define each person’s roles and responsibilities more clearly and respond to employees’ needs. Particularly rooted in its local area, Vanni supports numerous local organisations in Turin and Piedmont. A Cradle to Gate LCA also enabled the company to make a number of adjustments to limit the environmental impact of its products.
