Silmo Paris

Lafont Paris revealed beautifully crafted ‘Perfect Capsule’

14th October 2025

Parisian elegance with the spirit of rock – a special discovery at Silmo 2025

Among new releases at Silmo Paris 2025, the French eyewear brand’s new Perfect Capsule embodied French sophistication, elegance and contemporary style. Inspired by the archives of the 1980s, the collection is characterised by decorative studs and crystals, applied to some of the label’s most iconic eyewear designs such as Penelope, Showtime and Ramatuelle. Above: the new campaign by Lafont Paris

100% Optical 28 FEB - 2 MAR 2026, Excel London

Lafont Paris: the iconic Penelope style featuring a bold decoration with studs – part of the Perfect Capsule

With its controlled volumes, luminous bevels and jewellery-inspired design, the capsule collection celebrates the label’s creativity and commitment to fine craftsmanship. Each piece represents the meeting of an elegant aesthetic with a touch of audacity and authentic French sensibility. At Silmo, Lafont also revealed a new campaign to express the “confident gaze” of the women who wear their unique French eyewear designs.

About Lafont Paris – Lafont Paris is an historic family-run optical business founded in 1923. The collection is designed in Paris and produced in the Jura in France. More than 80% of the collection by Lafont is certified with the Origine France Garantie, the most important certification of product origin for French eyewear manufacture. Characteristics of the collection are the label’s approach to colour and design. The company has more than 200 exclusive colours in its contemporary collections, ensuring that each style expresses a unique style through its colour palette, tonal combinations, effects of light and material transparency. Find out more about the new models at www.lafont.com For more on Lafont Paris on Eyestylist.com. visit https://www.eyestylist.com/2023/10/collaboration-lafont-paris-x-maison-pierre-frey/

Design + Inspiration

Eyewear trends: Silmo Paris, September 2025

10th October 2025

Eyewear trends – Strong colour stories, a myriad of micro trends, and continued focus on fine craftsmanship in the luxury independent collections made for plenty of eyewear design inspiration at the Paris event. The 2025 show was as vibrant and inspirational as ever. The Trends Forum explored a variety of new moods and trends in eyewear – while the 32nd edition of the Silmo d’Or Awards celebrated “excellence, creativity and innovation” for 2025.

The organisers of the Silmo event reported healthy visitor numbers: the show welcomed 33,358 professionals – of those 52% were international visitors and 48% French, representing a net increase of 6.5% in visitors this year. More than 900 companies showcased their expertise and innovations across 75,000 m² of exhibition space. Exhibitors we talked to across the fair during the weekend were pleased with all aspects of the show, and all the events and special showcases organised by Silmo were highly appreciated and well attended. This year, special mention should go to the Moi Aussi Exhibition – Where Art Meets Optics. Conceived and supported by Etnia Barcelona, this exhibition showcased an artistic experience “where eyewear became a canvas for expression”. 90 artists were invited to reinvent eyewear and imagine a creation which transcended its traditional use to become a unique work of art.

Silmo also supports young design talent for the optical business via its Optical Design Contest. In its 4th edition, chaired by Michel Penneman, this year the contest invited design students to imagine “super-hero” eyewear: bold, visionary and innovative. The 2025 winner was GAIA by Hélène Caffin-Pinon (École Design Saint-Étienne), a children’s frame integrating plant recognition via augmented reality. Above: Silmo Paris 2025 – trend display – image courtesy of Silmo Paris

Nina Mûr: the new collection “Luminiers” displayed in the Trends Forum – multi-coloured sustainable wood eyewear made by hand – *image courtesy of Silmo Paris*

Silmo organisers highlighted a range of trends in the Trends Forum, emphasising a return of iconic styles, and a “quest for lightness and serenity”. Two other moods were underlined: a charismatic and assertive “allure” and energy in experimental graphics. A curated selection of optical and sunglass frames from exhibitors’ collections illustrated these directions with the aim of capturing the spirit of the times and anticipating tomorrow’s aesthetics.

Dzmitry Samal won a Silmo d’Or for model Luc – Eyewear Designer Category – Optical Frame

During the weekend we noticed a significant number of micro trends – from very specific vintage eyewear influences to fresh silhouettes – as well as key moods for 2026. Sustainability and sustainable material development are an ongoing focus while a changing approach to colour trends and colour work in eyewear felt fresh and expressive – created to allow more individual expression (all these areas will be looked at in the months to come on Eyestylist.com).

Ahlem x Campbell Addy Limited Edition – a sneak peek at Silmo Paris 2025 – one of the collab highlights we saw

The finest luxury eyewear brands and artisan labels – from across the world – were out in force at Silmo this year. Highlights we got to see included the new models at Rigards including the new Rigards x Ziggy Chen style “Moon Owl” (https://www.eyestylist.com/2025/09/silmo-paris-2025-rigards/), and refined handcrafted eyewear by Jacques Durand, Thierry Lasry (a new buffalo horn collection produced with Hoffmann), Lazare Studio, Lafont Paris and Press Eyewear. We are always impressed with newcomers and the start-up area, created to promote new creative talent, and the smaller independent brands showcased so well at Silmo – special mention to two of our favourite brands in France that are consistent in their quality, artistry and brand authenticity – Pontet – by Hermes Pontet (https://pontet-eyewear.com) – and the lovely Maggio Eyewear label, also from the South of France, the work of Julia Maggio (https://www.maggiojulia.com)

Additionally, Ahlem showed us their new collaboration with Campbell Addy, featuring two truly gorgeous frames, a beautifully crafted “sculpted-look” acetate and a reimagined luxurious gold aviator (pictured above).

FACE A FACE: model Flare won the Silmo d’Or – Eyewear Designer Category – Sunglasses – image courtesy of FACE A FACE

This year, the Silmo d’Or awards were chaired by the designer Oliver Lapidus. Among the winners were QED Eyewear in the Technological Innovation in Eyewear category for their model Phi – featuring a patented fastening system that can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily with many sustainable advantages. In the independent eyewear designer categories, Dzmitry Samal won with the polygonal optical model Luc which featured coloured resin inserts. FACE A FACE won the Eyewear Designer category – Sunglasses with their impressive sunglasses model Flare. The Jury’s special prize went to the Barcelona brand SAPIENS for the model ER1813-M.

Next year, Silmo will take place on 25th to 28th September 2026 at Paris Nord Villepinte. Find out more at www.silmoparis.com

For all the news on the Silmo d’Or awards in 2025, visit https://www.silmoparis.com/en/silmo-awards/silmo-or/laureats

Design + Inspiration

Eyewear freedom: Silmo 2018

5th October 2018

Creative highlights from this year’s Paris eyewear event

There’s one thing we are always in search of at the international eyewear event, SILMO: and that’s innovation with a clearly defined creative or technical achievement in the construction, design or overall concept. This year the stands were loaded with forward-thinking design work and original collections, for the most part, with a strong infusion of interesting colour, exquisite tonal and material combinations, and increasingly daring shapes – which sat alongside very minimal pared back collections where the focus is clearly on lightness and comfort.

Key shapes included elongated cateyes and new 90s-inspired ovals, but the shape story is not confined to these statement looks and we found many geometric forms, octagonal or hexagonal shapes, and a strong trend for complex shapes or constructions that require accomplished design tricks with layering, cutting and colour. Above: a new collection by FACE A FACE with imagery which explores the phenomenon of Synaesthesia. The frames play with contrasts of colour and materials, taking inspiration from the world of fine art. www.faceaface-paris.com

**PINK/PURPLE** will lead a new palette for 2019: Quantum sunglasses by Ørgreen: 3.11

Ørgreen’s state-of-the-art Quantum collection saw the addition of the first Sun styles – a brilliant collection of 5 unisex, male and female designs, with futuristic cases fitted uniquely with the specific form of two of the statement styles.

Pictured above, 3.11 is one of the statement pieces among the designs: an oversize sun style for women which takes strong visual inspiration from the classics of the 1970s – a key theme at SILMO. The low bridge contrasts with large rectangular tinted lenses recall acetate frames from a bygone era, while the titanium and polyamide material add an urban and modern touch. 3.11 is available in three refreshing colours contrasting frame and lenses – from Black/Gun with an amber hue lens to Red Wine / Gold with a light grey and bronze tinted lens. www.orgreenoptics.com

Exceptional handcrafting in precious materials is always a highlight at the fair. From the Netherlands, Alexanian has a devoted following of customers who look for craftsmanship and luxury refinement in rimless and full rim designs created to perfection in solid gold, and in many cases studded boldly with jewels, on frame and even nose pads. The frame with a sculptural detail on the rim above in their new collection is inspired by watches and comes in white gold and 18kt gold. www.alexanian.nl

Meg Eyewear: designs by an optician in Bordeaux

French eyewear creativity is well represented across the fair, and a handful of young designers are following the traditional spectacle making techniques making use of classic materials and features. The classical style was beautifully conveyed at Meg Eyewear, a label that produces frames in Oyonnax. The designs, specifically for women, offer high quality and sophisticated elegance in ‘sober’ iconic colour tones. www.megeyewear.com

Designers have also paid much attention to the effect of layering rims in different colours or materials on the front of the frame, to play with light and structure. A super example is the Theodore by SALT. Optics, where the round titanium rim features a delicate crystal inner rim in acetate. www.saltoptics.com

Also in our highlights this year is Portrait Eyewear, run by a young delightful brother and sister team, based in Milan, with a genuine passion for art and eyewear. There new Glitch concept is based on the glitch-art movement most often related to video art and photography. The frame surface reproduces the digital and analog interference with an unexpectedly glamorous effect on the face. Find out more at www.portraiteyewear.com

Next year: SILMO PARIS takes place from 27th to 30th September 2019 at Paris Nord Villepinte. https://en.silmoparis.com/ CN