On March 4, on the eve of the New York Eyewear Design Week, at the IAC Building, the building designed by architect Frank Gehry in Chelsea, was held “REFLECTIONS – Italian Eyewear Exhibition”, the event promoted by Italian Trade Agency in collaboration with ANFAO, the association representing Italian manufacturers of optical items. REFLECTIONS was the first B2B event that allowed Italian manufacturers and designers to contact the American industry: buyers, retailers and distributors of U.S. eyewear have been able to meet and tastare with hand the Italian taste, aesthetics and craftsmanship.
During the afternoon a selection of Italian companies in the sector met buyers, distributors and market operators invited through a dedicated program. The second part of the evening instead opened the doors to journalists, influencers and fashion professionals already present in the city for the week of the eyewear design, with an immersive installation built on light games, mirrors and artistic performances designed to enhance the product as a design object as well as functional accessory.
For the organizers, the initiative has represented above all a moment of commercial relationship between Italian companies and American interlocutors. Interviewed with our microphones, the president of the Italian Trade Agency, Matteo Zoppas, explained how “The Italian Eyewear Exhibition is a very effective result of the collaboration between ANFAO and the Italian Trade Agency. The most important thing is that speaking with these sixteen entrepreneurs that we brought practically all were very happy and satisfied, both of the location but above all of the relational system that we managed to build”.
On the same line the president of ANFAO, Lorraine Berton, who defined the initiative “an extraordinary day of great success” emphasizing the collaboration between institutions and enterprises in promoting in the United States “our Made in Italy, our know-how and the beauty of the Italian product”.
The Italian general console in New York, Giuseppe Pastorelli, also highlighted the role of the American market for the sector: “Reflections is a new ICE initiative to make the American public known, but above all to American buyers, the excellence of Italian jewellery. The United States is a fundamental market for this sector, which combines tradition, innovation and style”.
The New York event is linked, clearly, also to the data of the sector, which passes through a phase of uncertainty and which can only benefit from moments of high commercial value and reputational like this. According to data from ANFAO, in 2024 the export of the Italian eyewear has reached approximately 5,09 billion euros, with a slight decrease regarding the record of 2023. The United States remains the first target market, absorbing more than 15% of industry exports.
L’articolo How’s REFLECTION, the Italian eyewear expo in New York proviene da IlNewyorkese.
