Thankyou to our Headline Sponsors above

SILMO 2026 Preview Page

Make a date to head to Paris over the four days starting Friday September 25th and closing Monday September 28th

There’s still time to invite your colleagues to r egister now and secure their place

Once again Opchat News are confirmed as

Media Partners of SILMO 2026

Opening Hours

SILMO 2026 Optical Preview Pages

Exhibitors this is your chance to contact visitors from the UK and Ireland with information of what they will find on your stand

Download instructions HERE Let us feature your Companies Plans for SILMO 2026

Position on page is determined by first come basis

Registration is now open click HERE

OPTICAL WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION announces a Global Connection Event At Silmo 2026.

START STRONG. Powered by the OWA

The Optical Women’s Association (OWA) is proud to announce a significant milestone in its international expansion journey with the launch of START STRONG. Powered by the OWA, a global connection event taking place at SILMO Paris 2026 on Saturday, September 26, at 8:30 am CEST.

As the OWA continues to expand its mission beyond North America, this event marks an important step in building a truly global community of optical professionals committed to connection, leadership, mentorship, and advancing opportunities for women across the industry.

START STRONG will focus on purposeful goal setting, wellbeing, and meaningful connection. This thoughtfully curated breakfast experience is designed to help pause, recharge, and prepare for the day ahead before the pace of the show takes over. Attendees will have the opportunity to align their priorities, gain valuable insights from industry leaders, build meaningful connections through purposeful networking, and approach the show with greater clarity, focus, and purpose.

Beginning at 8:30 am, START STRONG has been scheduled to enable exhibitors to participate before the exhibition opens. Visitors will be able to join from 9:00 am, when the show floor opens, ensuring that both exhibitors and visitors have the opportunity to attend and connect before the day gets fully underway.

Graciously sponsored by SILMO, Amélie Morel, President of SILMO and Director of Communications at MOREL, will provide opening remarks, followed by engaging discussions with industry leaders and networking opportunities designed to foster collaboration and support across the global optical community.

In Focus

Exhibitor Edition – Barbara Hébert Motz, Chief Marketing Officer at MOREL, shares practical advice on preparing for trade show success, maximising opportunities during the exhibition, and measuring results afterwards.
Buyer Edition – Tamara Johnson, Buyer at New Look Vision Group, will detail how she approaches major trade shows, sets priorities, identifies new opportunities, and evaluates success.

Attendees will also learn about the OWA’s growing international presence, current initiatives, and future expansion plans, with the opportunity to meet members of the OWA International Expansion Committee and learn more about becoming involved.

Space is limited so register now! The first 50 attendees to sign up will receive an exclusive premium START STRONG wellness bag, curated to support you through the day ahead.

Event Details:

When: Saturday, 26 September 2026 | 8:30 am – 10:00 am

Where: The SILMO Club

Event: START STRONG. Powered by the OWA.

Cost: Complimentary, generously sponsored by SILMO. Space is limited, so advance registration is highly recommended

RSVP here by 25 September.

Optical Design Contest 2026

SILMO Paris unveils the 10 talents reimagining the future of vision

Because innovation also begins with fresh ideas, SILMO Paris has made supporting emerging talent one of its core commitments. More than an international gathering for the optical industry, the exhibition nurtures creativity, encourages experimentation and shines a spotlight on the designers shaping tomorrow’s optical world.

A true international launchpad, the Optical Design Contest offers design students a unique opportunity each year to rethink eyewear through the lens of design, innovation and new uses.

For the 2026 edition, dedicated to the theme “The Future of Optics: What Vision?”, the jury is chaired by Olivier Lapidus, the internationally renowned designer whose career, spanning fashion, design and innovation, brings a distinctive perspective to the competing projects.

Ten projects have been shortlisted from entries submitted by students around the world. Reflecting the diversity of design cultures and the creativity of a new generation, they present bold concepts that are already helping to shape the conversation around the future of optics.

The ten nominated projects will be showcased at SILMO Paris 2026, before one overall winner is selected. The winning project will receive a €10,000 prize, shared equally between the student and their educational institution.

The nominees are…

ALOGAKI – Elsa de Miguel / Paula Gómez / Adriana González – Universidad de Valladolid (Spain)

A premium system designed for deaf and visually impaired users, inspired by the praying mantis. A stabilising wing enables the frame to transform into a standalone hearing implant when removed, powered by a dedicated micro-battery.

ARCH TERRAIN – Megan Brodmerkel – Savannah College of Art and Design (USA)

Adaptive sports eyewear for climbing, hiking and cycling. The temple tension and lens-to-face distance can be adjusted in real time using a BOA-inspired dial, combined with an elastic hinge and precision rail system.

DREAMSCAPE – Sophia Denison – Savannah College of Art and Design (USA)

An experimental eyewear collection addressing the modern “attention crisis” by recreating dream-like sensory experiences through visual distortion.

EMOSLOW – Océane Gallais – CY Cergy Paris Université (France)

Smart eyewear for children aged 8 to 12 experiencing concentration difficulties, anxiety, hypersensitivity or emotional regulation disorders (ADHD, ASD). An integrated heart-rate sensor continuously monitors the child’s heartbeat, triggering electrochromic lenses that gradually change colour as stress levels increase, helping children recognise and express their emotions. A companion mobile app provides personalised monitoring and guided breathing exercises.

GROUND – Tidiane Cardot / Atlas Ozer / Theo Vanpoperynghe – Rubika ISD (France)

“Transition eyewear” equipped with an EEG sensor that captures brainwaves and generates animated cymatic patterns within electrochromic lenses, helping users move smoothly between periods of cognitive effort through guided meditation or refocusing.

HALO – Thibault Lacroix / Basile Fruteau de Laclos – L’école de Design Nantes Atlantique (France)

Dual-lens eyewear designed for Generation Z working in open-plan and flexible offices. A corrective lens is paired with a second polycarbonate lens incorporating Solid Polymerised Gel SPD (Suspended Particle Device) technology, allowing the wearer’s peripheral vision to darken electronically at the touch of a button for enhanced concentration.

LEARNING TO SEE – Sini VIRTANEN – Aalto University, School of Art Design and Architecture (Finland)

AI-powered eyewear combining eye tracking, computer vision and augmented reality to reverse the traditional learning process by enabling users to “see like an expert” before acquiring theoretical knowledge across subjects such as architecture, biology and history.

LUPO – Amandine Crépin – CY Cergy Paris Université (France)

Children’s eyewear made from recycled polycarbonate with photosensitive pigments that change colour (from transparent to violet) when exposed to UV light, encouraging sun protection awareness in a fun and engaging way.

PROME – Camille Déniel – L’Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique (France)

A piece of “everyday jewellery” crafted from recycled stainless steel, featuring interchangeable temples in three sizes (S/M/L) and magnetic accessories that allow users to transform the look of their frames without replacing the entire pair.

SPORA – Mateo Caballero Rodrigo / Mario Carrasco García / Gabriel Casado Matesanz- Universidad de Valladolid (Spain)

Eyewear grown rather than manufactured, using mycelium cultivated on agricultural waste, moulded and stabilised through gentle heat treatment. The result is a 100% biodegradable and compostable frame, with every piece naturally unique.

More than ever, the season starts here.

Join us from 25 to 28 September at Paris Nord Villepinte to discover the ten nominated projects and the winner of the 2026 Optical Design Contest.

Have you booked your Eurostar yet ?

SILMO PARIS IN PICTURES

SILMO d’Or 2026

BREAKING NEWS MAY 29th

Joachim Froment, The President of the Jury

For this new edition of the SILMO d’Or, SILMO Paris has entrusted the presidency of its jury to Joachim Froment, an industrial designer and creative director based in Brussels.

When design goes beyond the object to reinvent our relationship with the world

Through this appointment, the SILMO d’Or shines a spotlight on a contemporary vision of design, where technology, emotion and systemic thinking come together to rethink our relationship with the objects and uses of tomorrow.

Designing objects that create lasting emotions

A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, Joachim Froment has developed a singular approach to design, shaped as much by engineering as by artistic resonance. He advocates a “symbiosis between poetry and industry,” a vision in which the object is no longer limited to its function, but becomes a vector for experience and interaction.

After starting his career in Copenhagen alongside leading Scandinavian names, he co-founded Futurewave, a design and technology studio collaborating with global leaders such as Renault, LVMH, Richemont and pioneering tech companies, with the ambition of redefining our relationship with contemporary objects.

A holistic approach to design

His vision goes beyond human-centred design, advocating instead an “ecosystemic” approach in which products are conceived as essential links within a circular system. From furniture to mobility, from lighting to consumer electronics, his creations are driven by the same pursuit: deepening the connection between the user, the object and its environment.

Recipient of several international distinctions — including the iF Design Awards, Good Design Awards and Core77 Awards — Joachim Froment has developed a creative language that is at once forward-looking, sculptural and sensitive, guided by the principle of “Agape,” where human experience and the future of our ecosystem coexist with elegance.

A presidency driven by new dialogues between design and technology

Through this presidency, the SILMO d’Or continues its ambition to explore creative territories where innovation, usage and emotion engage with the major transformations shaping today’s world.

Joachim Froment’s cross-disciplinary perspective, at the intersection of design, technology and human experience, will accompany an edition focused on creations that push the boundaries of innovation and shape the uses of tomorrow for contemporary optics.

More than ever, it all starts here.

Join us from September 25 to 28 at Paris Nord Villepinte to discover the nominees and winners of the SILMO d’Or 2026.

Once again Opchat News and Mylocaloptician are designated as SILMO Media Partners

Hall M205

MEI: when a pioneering vision becomes the new standard in block-less production

When MEI first introduced block-less technology into lens production with the launch of CoreTBA at Vision Expo Las Vegas in September 2022, many considered it a technological challenge that would be difficult to turn into an industrial solution. Completely eliminating the traditional blocking and deblocking steps seemed an ambitious goal, destined to remain confined to the field of experimentation.

The elimination of alloy has always been a common, complex yet decisive goal. MEI went further: it removed alloy and everything that does not add value, significantly reducing operating costs and greatly accelerating the time to delivery of the lens.

Today, the landscape has changed profoundly. The growing adoption of this technology, the increase in industrial installations and the introduction, also by other players, of block-less solutions confirm a transformation that MEI had anticipated years ago, helping to turn a pioneering vision into the benchmark production model.

An Italian company among the world leaders in the development of automated technologies and solutions for the production of ophthalmic lenses, MEI has turned this vision into an industrial reality with CoreTBA, the solution that eliminates blocking and deblocking operations and the tape application and removal steps, integrating all lens processing steps, including quality control, into a single system. An innovation that has reduced non-value-added activities, simplified the production flow and paved the way for a new industrial paradigm, which today continues to evolve with Alpha CoreTBA and Omega CoreTBA, the new solutions designed to offer even greater productivity, modularity and operational flexibility, while maintaining the same market-validated technology.

“When we began investing in block-less technology, our goal was not simply to develop a new machine, but to rethink the way lenses are produced. Today, seeing this technology establish itself as the new benchmark for the industry confirms the validity of our vision and drives us to continue innovating, offering laboratories increasingly efficient, sustainable and future-oriented solutions” declares Stefano Sonzogni, President of MEI

Two solutions, one technology

CoreTBA has revolutionized the industry by integrating the seven essential steps of lens production into a single compact unit, with a significantly smaller footprint than traditional solutions.

With Alpha CoreTBA and Omega CoreTBA, innovation takes another step forward, distributing the functions across two separate machines. This configuration makes it possible to double productivity thanks to continuous, uninterrupted operation and offers laboratories greater modularity, allowing them to scale production capacity and configure the system according to their operational needs.

A new generation of efficiency

The technology developed by MEI eliminates the need to use consumables associated with lens blocking, such as protective films, alloy and resin, overcoming one of the historically most complex steps in processing. The elimination of blocking and block removal operations makes it possible to reduce the footprint, simplify maintenance, lower energy consumption and optimize the entire production process.

Layout flexibility is further improved thanks to integration with the EzLine modular transport system, while operational continuity is ensured even during tool changes and calibration procedures.

The absence of blocking steps also makes it possible to significantly reduce lead time, accelerating the transfer of lenses to subsequent processing operations. Power mapping by transmission is performed immediately after polishing, enabling continuous quality control, constant collection of process data and machine self-calibration before production tolerances are exceeded. The result is greater process stability, a reduction in rejects and the maintenance of the high-quality standards that characterize MEI solutions.

Quality remains at the heart of the entire process.

With Alpha CoreTBA and Omega CoreTBA, MEI once again confirms its ability to anticipate the evolution of the sector, continuing along a path of innovation that has helped transform block-less production from a pioneering insight into a new benchmark for the optical industry. A vision that continues to translate into solutions capable of increasing productivity, efficiency and sustainability, supporting laboratories in addressing the challenges of a constantly evolving market, which seeks quality, speed and reduced production costs.