For some years now, MIDO has pursued the objectives of sustainability and company transparency. This commitment led to it being awarded ISO 20121:2012 certification, an international standard attesting to sustainable management of large events.
In fact, the Milan fair considers the reduction of environmental and social impact not only to be a simple necessity but a real duty; at the same time, MIDO also sees it as a duty to increase awareness by exhibitors, suppliers and visitors, sensitising and transforming them into sustainability ambassadors.
Among the activities introduced in this perspective, this year sees the arrival of the “zero” edition of the CSE AWARD - Certified Sustainable Eyewear 2023, an award created by MIDO in partnership with ANFAO and Certottica which assesses levels of sustainability in the international eyewear industry. An expert panel of judges evaluated the products that were entered in the contest, using specific criteria regarding their environmental and social impact and taking into account the entire life cycle of the product: recycling of materials, reduction of consumption in the manufacturing and distribution processes, enhancement of the supply chain, elimination of waste, level of recyclability, use of renewable energy sources, etc.
Six categories were judged: Sunglasses Europe, Sunglasses Rest of the World, Frames Europe, Frames Rest of the World, Cases Europe and Cases Rest of the World.
Today we meet the winner of the CSE Award Frames Rest of the World: Monogram Eyewear.
The spokesperson is Yolla Ayoub, Business Development Manager.
How many editions have you attended MIDO for?
We’ve been exhibiting at MIDO since 2019.
When and why did you decide to apply?
Since we started exhibiting at the international eyewear fairs, we made sure to deliver our messages of the unique concepts and innovative ideas that we create in the eyewear industry as well as convey our core values including our social and business responsibility. So we took the advantage of applying to MIDO CSE award to let people know better about those values translated by our production model that matches the sustainability best criteria.
Why was your eyewear selected? What did it have that was different from others on the market?
We believe that we have been selected as the number one sustainable eyewear due to many factors, most importantly because of the unique production model that allows us to reduce raw material waste to zero compared to conventional acetate eyewear production which involves a huge waste of materials. also, our eyewear is 100% handmade which means that we don’t use any source of energy in the production and that is 0 energy consumption. finally, our glasses are minimalistic, so we use only a minimal amount of raw material for each pair of glasses.
Why is it important to make sustainable products?
Developing and producing sustainable products is a shared responsibility of every industry to elevate responsible consumer consumption, lower the carbon footprint, and improve the entire supply chain and thus protect the valuable ecosystems, and reduce pollution. We know that the eyewear industry is small compared to other kinds of industries, but we believe that eyewear is hugely involved in everybody’s life which nominates it to be a perfect social example to learn from.
Through what actions is your commitment to this heartfelt issue materialized?
Through continuous development to gradually apply sustainability in every aspect of our production.