The Gift of Sight

How critical is this show to the industry? Schneider GMBH & Company KG is headquartered in Fronhausen, Germany, north of Frankfurt, and bases its North American operations out of Texas. It recently won the German Innovation Award for the first, self-contained, fully-automated ophthalmic lens production system. It deals in heavy machinery, and most of it is on display at Vision Expo West.

“We ship in units by the tons from all around the world just for Vision Expo,” said Tobias Schneider. “It is a major investment for us, but we have to do it and we have to be at this show. In America, we can’t demonstrate our products by calling on customers, and nowhere else is there such a concentrated set of our decision makers. It’s an optical industry show, but it’s also the only one that showcases technology in an impactful way.”

With a sell cycle that lasts months, Schneider finds that Vision Expo provides a critical way to start or maintain relationships with customers, all the while meaningfully cultivating them toward a purchase.

For attendees, Vision Expo is a mix of shopping, learning and networking.

“This is our Super Bowl,” says Elizabeth Thompson, a licensed optician from Arizona, referring to the culminating event in American football that draws a global audience in the tens of millions. “We network a lot. It enables us to constantly learn while earning continuing education credits. And we get to see what’s new.”

Michelle Amanda, an optometrist with her own practice in Mission Viejo, California, appreciates her ability to access so many trending products in one place.

“It’s just a great opportunity to see lots of different frame lines all at one time and the companies that offer different pieces of equipment or specialties like dry eye options and treatments – talk to them and really take the time to see if it will be effective for my patients,” she said.

On the fashion side of Vision Expo, millions are spent by brands to groom and deliver a consumer experience that attracts and engages retailer prospects. Campaigns are tested, previews tease next year’s line and sales are made on the spot. Most high caliber and aspiring brands with a fashion focus choose to exhibit in the galleria, an enclave that consolidates a majority of specialty and start-up frame and lens makers. Here, differentiation and the brand story are in full plumage.

Shwood, a maker of prescription and sunglass eyewear from Portland, Oregon, infuses natural elements, including shells, wood shavings and mushrooms, into its frames. Its booth evokes a sense of urban lumberjack backed by the vistas of the American northwest. In this way, Shwood creates a rough-hewn narrative soaked in careful craftsmanship. Its differentiation begins in the earth and ends with an affable, long-bearded curator of retro American male chic.

For other brands, the people who make the eyewear are the story, and their personal journeys have catapulted them to the forefront of the industry. This was powerfully conveyed during Vision Expo’s keynote address. With an illuminated letter sculpture spelling VISION at the back of the massive exhibit hall, the petite frame of Piera Gelardi, Refinery29’s co-founder and executive creative director, aerobically kicked off said keynote by leading an interactive warm-up she calls “shaking it out.” Refinery29 is a New York-based media company focused on young women. Its mission is to diversify the meaning of beauty and style worldwide, and it has developed a reach of nearly 250 million. Over the next hour Gelardi rocketed through a multimedia presentation that is part biopic and part personal artistic manifesto. All of it is designed to spark the audience’s desire around creating the environment and context for the creative life. During the Q&A she’s asked, “Who’s your favorite eyewear maker?” “Coco and Breezy,” said Gelardi.

In that split second, the power of the Coco and Breezy brand materializes from one of the fashion industry’s most important influencers – a coveted mention in passing that draws a collective set of breaths from an audience of note-taking buyers.

Coco and Breezy are nicknames bestowed by the grandmother of twin sisters Corianna and Brianna Dotson. As children, they were bullied in their Minneapolis, Minnesota, suburb, and they began wearing sunglasses as a symbolic shield. Then they started adding artwork to their shades. As 19-year-olds in New York City, they began designing eyewear in earnest.

“We didn’t know anything,” said Breezy. “We made our first set of frames and they weren’t even wearable. We learned a lot. Fast.”

The sisters were quick studies and became a most-wanted brand among the pop culture elite, with the likes of Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Serena Williams and the late Prince sporting their eyewear. A small-batch approach enabled them to sell frames at high-end boutiques. Then they began attending Vision Expo.

“At first, it was like people had no idea who we were, and we felt like we didn’t belong because the market didn’t feel that diverse,” said Coco. “Now our presence feels impactful. It feels like people care about our story and what we share. When we walk around the floor, people come up to us and say, ‘We love your eyewear, we love your music, we love the energy you bring to Vision Expo.’”

As the industry began embracing Coco and Breezy’s brand, they went from 30 fashion shops to more than 400 eyewear retailers. Today, they’re show-wide celebrities.

“Vision Expo has been so supportive. At first, they sensed what was going on for us and were even almost apologetic,’ said Coco. “And they fully enabled us to move into the industry. When we’re on panels here we speak our mind about certain issues – social issues – and they’re always so supportive. They fought for us. Today, because of that, we walk this floor and there’s so much love.”

For Coco and Breezy, it’s is all about creating a brand that is open to all. During the interview, an optometrist from California interrupts and they pose for a selfie. They know him by name. He apologizes.

“I’m so sorry,” he says. “I just had to stop by for my annual picture. I love these two.”

It’s all very genuine, and the human interaction proves incredibly important to Coco and Breezy.

“We know that personally, if we’re going to become what we want to become, we’re not always going to be able to attend Vision Expo in person,” said Breezy. “Yet at Vision Expo we get to meet with our retailers. They are serious about what they do and they appreciate what we do. And they’ve helped us. They give us a lot of feedback, and we love feedback.”

Coco and Breezy take retailer comments and integrate them into the following season’s designs. It’s become a part of their creative process. It’s also helping them form a next-phase strategy.

“In the next three to five years we want to become the biggest eyewear brand, and we are focused on creating a luxury experience at an accessible price point that speaks to all consumers. We are creating emotional connection for people who are passionate about things we believe in, and we’re developing a community where everyone’s invited,” said Breezy.

This story of a nascent brand finding its sea legs at Vision Expo repeats itself as exhibitors detail their journeys to success. Equally profound is how global brands seeking U.S. market entry have found the show to be an effective gateway.
Etnia Barcelona is a case in point. The Spanish firm showcased its latest “I’MPERFECT” campaign featuring a global collection of models who have taken what society would normally judge as a physical imperfection and transformed it into their personal calling card of beauty and empowerment. Their high-watt booth and bold use of red was thumping to a backbeat of global hip hop.

“We’re Europe’s second-largest brand, but few had heard of us until we opened at Vision Expo East with a nine-square meter booth and three people in 2003,” said Dave Law, Senior Vice President of North America . “So we’ve been at Vision Expo for 16 years, and we’ve grown our presence to East and West and today our booth size is 83 square meters. Vision Expo has been instrumental to our U.S. market penetration.”

Away from the exhibit hall, Heidi Wuttke greets visitors in the quiet of Vision Expo West’s newest feature: exclusive suites filled with ultra-luxury and bespoke brands. Wuttke is the U.S. sales agent for Swedish designer Anna-Karin Karlsson, whose collection includes frames that retail for up to nearly two thousand euros. Vision Expo East 2019 represented the brand’s coming out in North America.

“In the past, when we’d exhibited elsewhere around the world, we kept Anna’s work behind elegant glass cases – more behind the curtain. When we launched at Vision Expo East, we discovered that U.S. buyers really want to touch and handle the pieces and discover them for themselves, and it’s been very powerful for us here.” said Wuttke.

This adjustment and an appearance by Karlsson capped a successful launch, but Wuttke also saw the importance of maintaining a partnership and exhibiting at Vision Expo West.

“We just made a deal today with a Canadian firm that walked in and said, ‘We saw and loved you at East, but we just weren’t ready for you then, but we’ve come to West because we’re definitely ready now,’” said Wuttke. “Along the way Vision Expo has been a huge connector for us. They’ve gone out of their way to get our product exposed to buyers in key luxury markets like Chicago, Atlanta and Beverly Hills.”

Vision Expo’s personal touch and relationship building are by design, says Mitchell Barkley, the Vision Council’s vice president of trade shows and meetings.

“We work in what is a comparatively small and stable industry,” he said. “People care about each other and we believe that even in this era of digital transformation in all aspects of our industry, people want to come together. They want to interact with companies. They want to see each other and their colleagues. That’s what really makes Vision Expo special.”

This underlying assumption is shared by Vision Expo and the Vision Council, and as they recruit new employees, Vision Expo is keen on finding team members with a level of drive to leave their mark on the conference and the industry by proving themselves tenacious and creative builders of events, programs and relationships.

Yet Vision Expo also facilitates human connection even as it adapts to the evolving ways humans connect. Reed Exhibitions, and its parent company RELX, has been integral to this shift.

“One of the key ways Reed supports Vision Expo is in our corporate technology investments,” said Vision Expo Event Director Mohr. “Reed has poured millions of dollars into improving our on-site event app while developing state of the art event recommendations and building onsite technology like digital maps that make our ever-growing tradeshows more navigable and even customizable.”

This tech renaissance has paved the way for the future. Mohr describes a project that amounts to a total re-imagination of Vision Expo. Over the next five years, the event will undergo product enhancements that will impact exhibitors, attendees and conference goers. It will include new audience experiences and must-attend events and a new array of education options.

Back in the exhibit hall, 20/20 Magazine Vice President and Editor James Spina is hosting a panel titled Freedom Sighters. It foregrounds vendors and retailers who are sharing experiences of being radically independent players in a consolidating eyewear industry.

Among them sits Ashley Bezamat, founder of Dom Vetro, which means house of glass in Italian. Bezamat is an optician and hand-makes artisanal frames in Los Angeles. His designs are worn by American actors Alec Baldwin, Bradley Cooper and Remi Malek.

Bezamat detailed the motivation for his work and his journey to the Italian Alps that inspired his move.

“My great-grandfather was an Italian-American tailor. He taught me to appreciate precision and how working with your hands can shape you,” he said. “The fine detail and beauty of eyewear appealed to me, working with my hands appealed to me and helping people appealed to me.”

Leaving the panel, Kendra Krako, an optometrist who is about to open a new shop in Scottsdale, Arizona, reflects on her Vision Expo West experience.

“For someone like me who believes in giving people the gift of sight, Vision Expo is everything. I always leave feeling energized and inspired – ready to do more,” said Krako.

Her sentiments confirm that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always have to stay in Vegas.

---
Photos by Adam Linke for The Decisive Moment.