Craving MIDO: a talk with Key Optical Europe.
MIDO is back, in person and in complete safety, at the Fiera Milano Rho venue from 30 April to 2 May 2022. The event is set to be a must-do for the whole sector, both in terms of its role as a privileged observatory and as an international point of reference in the worlds of design, fashion, culture and business. MIDO is also a hub that reflects an entire industry, for reflection and rethinking about eyewear in all its aspects and details, a showcase for final users. As the next important edition approaches, we have interviewed some of the key players.
Today we give the floor to Sabrina Rege Turo, founder of Key Optical Europe.
Your company has garnered years of experience in the eyewear industry: can you tell us your story?
Our family has had a passion for the world of eyewear for over a century now. With me, the family has reached its fourth generation of eyewear crafters, it’s a bit like Obelix... I fell into this magic potion when I was a little girl!
Gustave Rege Turo, my great-grandfather of Italian descent, opened an artisanal workshop of handmade horn-rimmed glasses in France in 1924. I grew up among materials and frames, and thanks to the experience and expertise passed on to me by my father Robert, I decided to carry on the family tradition by founding Key Optical Europe in 1998, in the Florentine countryside.
From the artisan beginnings, our approach has maintained an attention to detail and the ability to draw sketches of frames by hand before using the computer.
What are the values underlying your products?
Creativity, artisanship and know-how, are three key words that have always been part of our philosophy. Our research team is committed daily to creating products that combine the latest trends, new sustainable production techniques and a pinch of timeless tradition. I can also mention a concept that will form an even greater part of our values in the coming years: environmental sustainability.
Apart from your own brands, you also manage some licensed collections. Is the choice of licensed collections coherent with your dedication to artisanship?
I grew up in an eyewear industry that rewarded originality and craftsmanship, and I still strongly believe in the need to partner creativity with the manual skill of our artisans. The future of advanced eyewear lies in increased focus on the wearer and his/her individual personality. Every day, we accept the challenge of matching the identity of each brand in our portfolio with the most appropriate and distinctive frame.
Été Lunettes is for a sophisticated woman, an elegant high spender, while Cosmopolitan is for the young female citizen of the world, Naf Naf for a romantic woman, Les Hommes for the male lover of street luxury, Kaporal for the young male lover of urban living, and Green Forever for those who wish to protect the environment as well as their eyes.
What has been, and continues to be, the role played by MIDO for your company?
MIDO is our trade fair of reference, and is now an established appointment where we can meet our most important customers and hear about their experiences in the field. Thanks to their stories, we can take stock of decisions made in the past and come up with strategies for the future. The other reason that we consider the event important regards the opportunity (that our company has always appreciated) to make contact with a huge international public of professionals in the eyewear industry with different visions and needs. This allows us to refine our collections to make them suitable for their demands and thus expand our customer base.
What will you present this year at MIDO?
This year, we will present the new Spring/Summer 2022 prescription and sunglasses collections from all our brands. What’s new? Our oversize glasses in bright colours by Naf Naf are a must-see, as are the trendy frames for true Cosmo Girls by Cosmopolitan, the extra-large and all-black glasses by Les Hommes and the urban-style items in the Kaporal collection. With Été Lunettes, prescription and sunglasses can change look according to your outfit, and are decorated with interchangeable rhinestone and feather details between two acetate bands on the temples. A vintage and bio-acetate character, on the other hand, marks the new eco-friendly Green Forever collection.