Our eyewear products are appreciated for their quality and their innovation in both materials and design. We see quality to be key to success in the market and in effectively managing its brand portfolio. Research and development mainly focuses on two types of activities, Product Creation and Design and Research and development into new materials, technologies, production processes and tools/machinery. A new Product Creation Department was created in late 2014 with the purpose of bridging the gap between Designers and Product Supply. Its mission is to drive the development of the most unique and desirable eyewear collections by combining product development, innovation and the coordination of the multifunctional process from design to manufacturing.

Research and development of materials, product and processes aims, on one hand, to improve the technical characteristics of the products and, on the other, to develop innovations of the production process which increase its effectiveness, efficiency, quality and speed to market.

Our products are created both within our plant facilities in Italy, China and the U.S. and by third-party suppliers mainly located in Asia. We have a Global Sourcing Department which is mainly responsible for buying raw materials, components and equipment to feed internal production needs as well as for purchasing finished goods. In order to ensure the quality of our products, we carefully selects suppliers and evaluates them on an ongoing basis based on their delivery times and their ability to ensure certain quality standards, as well as on their available production capacity and cost competitiveness.

We leverage quality as a competitive advantage by constantly challenging the “status quo” of our products in terms of Performance, Durability, Reliability and Perceived Quality. Our Quality System is ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Marketing to support the development of our brands portfolio is one of the key factors for our Group’s present and future success. We invest a significant part of our Marketing budgets in activities directed to consumers and we are today focusing the greater part of our resources and renewed skills into digital and social marketing, which is and will continue to be the most important vehicle of communication, both because of the ability to adequately define the recipients of advertising, and because of the change in consumer habits. We also invests in trade marketing activities, with particular regard to retail points of our main customers. Such activities are of paramount importance both to direct end-consumers towards selecting our brands and products and because of customer loyalty programs.

We develop a specific marketing plan for each of the brands in our portfolio, employing diverse strategies and actions in order to achieve optimal positioning of each of the brands and prevent them from overlapping. For licensed brands, the marketing plan is developed in close coordination with licensors.

We sell our products with an extensive subsidiary network in around 40 countries in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia Pacific and China, Middle East and Africa, and a network of more than 50 independent distribution partners covering the other countries. We reach nearly 100,000 points of sale all over the world including opticians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, distribution chains, department stores, specialised retailers, licensors’ own stores, duty free shops and sports shops. Over recent years, we have opened successfully developed the new online channels, from B2C to the business through internet pure players, to our innovative B2B platforms which will continue to put our customer first.