MILAN—Mido presented three major awards at its 2024 edition: the BeStore Award, the Stand Up For Green Award and the CSE – Certified Sustainable Eyewear Award. All three, which were presented at the OTTICLUB with Mido president Giovanni Vitaloni and radio host Petra Loreggian, awarded sustainable practices. First was the BeStore Award for Design which went to Anaïs Murith’s LENETA - Concept Store Optique, a Swiss optical center, for its combination of beauty, retro appeal, contemporary aesthetics and responsible selling.

The Innovation award went to Vitor Martins' Ótica Maxivisão from Portugal, both for its strong social commitment, through several solidarity missions in five countries, and for its focus on environmental protection.

For the sustainability-focused awards, the winner of the Stand Up For Green award for the most sustainable booth at the show this year was CSO Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, an Italian company whose booth was entirely designed on the basis of the use of circular materials.

 
 
Finally, the CSE - Certified Sustainable Eyewear Award, which was created by Mido in cooperation with ANFAO and Certottica to assess sustainability in the global eyewear industry, was split into six categories. This year’s winners were:

● CSE Award Cases Rest of the World: AQUA by EXPLORIS ASIA LIMITED (China)

● CSE Award Cases Europe: BABE 24 by LLEXAN ITALIA (Italy)

● CSE Award Frames Rest of the World: NATURA by NEWAY MACAO (Macao)

● CSE Award Frames Europe: TOMMY HILFIGER by SAFILO (Italy)

● CSE Award Sunglasses Rest of the World: LONGCHAMP by MARCHON (USA)

● CSE Award Sunglasses Europe: ROLF (Austria)

In addition to these awards, CSE or "Certified Sustainable Eyewear," the first product sustainability certification program for the eyewear industry, was presented during Mido. Created, registered and promoted by ANFAO, the Italian Association of Optical Goods Manufacturers, in collaboration with Certottica, this certificate is developed to become the new product sustainability standard for the eyewear industry, certifying glasses and their components: frame fronts, temples, lenses, and small metal and plastic parts, according to show organizers.

VMAIL covered the full announcement from Mido in Milan here. Lorraine Berton, president of ANFAO, said, "Today we present a very important project for the eyewear industry, which emphasizes the commitment of our members and is aimed at improving the environmental impact of the supply chain. After almost two years of studies and research, with our Association and Certottica at the forefront, I want to highlight how important it is to understand and support this project from the onset because it meets one of the biggest challenges we are all facing: sustainability.

“With the CSE certification we will be able to guide eyewear companies, primarily SMEs, into the future of sustainability, along a path that is oriented toward environmental, social and economic issues,” she said.