Mido 2014 Slideshow

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

Mido Organizers, including Cirillo Marcolin (second from left) and Giovanni Vitaloni (second from right) held a press conference to review this year's fair on Thurs., Feb. 27.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

The entrance of Mido Pavilions 22 and 24 saw much traffic over the three days thanks to their housing of the Lens, Equipment and Design Lab exhibitors.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

Luxottica had a LARGE presence at the show with a giant pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers at their booth in the Fashion District (Pavilion 13).

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

Safilo let show attendees know they were celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2014 with their booth in the Fashion District.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

The Fashion District was also home to the always bustling Italia Independent booth.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

At the Blackfin booth in the Design Lab (Pavilion 24) Nicola Del Din, president and CEO at Pramaor, makers of Blackfin, introduced the brand's collaboration with Arrigo Cipriani, owner of the famous Harry's Bar in Venice, among other establishments.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

Rafella Fico, an Italian showgirl and model infamous for ties to the Berlusconi sex scandal and for a contentious relationship with her daughter's father, Italian soccer player Mario Balotelli, greeted fans in the Polar booth.

Mido 2014: Mido Madness »

"A train to Mido" on Sunday March 3rd, a Trenitalia Frecciarossa train will provide free transportation to more than 600 opticians from Rome, Florence and Bologna to Milan.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

REM's Nicolas Roseillier and Mike Hundert took a stylish turn in their booth.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Major U.S. frame suppliers made their presence felt. (Clockwise from top left) ClearVision's booth. Kenmark met with several European accounts. Alessandro Lanaro, founder and CEO of Modo, at the company's booth. The Marchon booth was busy as ever.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Dan Lieberman, OD (r) and Joe Tallier (l) of Ogi Eyewear greeted Carl-Otto Karlengen from Synoptik, Norway in their booth..

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Glen Eisenberg (l) and Michael Suliteanu were on hand in the WestGroupe booth.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

King Baby was a highlight collection of the Mondottica USA booth, which distributes the brand. Here, from left: King Baby's Ron Kaufman, with Mondottica USA's Sergio Cereda, Mitch Barkley, Mick Kunish and Harvey Ross.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

California-based frame companies were strongly represented. (Clockwise from top left) Ross and Sheila Vance from Sama. Oliver Peoples' Larry Leight (l) and David Shulte (r) speak with Luxottica Group's Antonio Miyakawa (c). The brightly colored l.a. Eyeworks booth. Jim Sepanek of Spy Optic in the brand's booth.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Ray Khalil (l), President of Lafont North America, and Robert Liener, president and CEO of A&A Optical, caught up on the show floor.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Maui Jim brought a little "Aloha" spirit to the Fieramilano Rho thanks to a troupe of hula dancers.

Mido 2014: Visiting (North) Americans »

Barbara Wagner and Gerard Santinelli of Santinelli International, the North American distributers of Nidek, in front of the company's booth.

Mido 2014: Party, Party! »

The Vision Council and the European Sunglass Committee hosted a party at Terrazze Martini near the Duomo on Saturday night. Here the Vision Council's Ed Greene (l) with Shamir's Raanan Naftalovich (c), current Vision Council president, and Mido/ANFAO's Francesco Gili (r).

Mido 2014: Party, Party! »

(Top) Italia Independent founder, Lapo Elkann, shows product during the brand's Out of Fair party Saturday night at the their store on Via Montenapoleone. (Bottom) Revelers at the Italia Independent party.

Mido 2014: Party, Party! »

(Left) Fabrizio Gamberini of Marcolin USA (l) with Giovanni Zoppas of the Marcolin Group at the start of their event. Marcolin hosted an art exhibit, titled "Sguardi" (or Views) in Milan on Sunday night. One of the art installations inspired by Marcolin's Tod's Eyewear brand.

Mido 2014: Party, Party! »

On Sunday night, the Fashion District (Pavilion 13) stayed open until 10pm to host a party, complete with band.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Au Natural »

Nature inspired elements were a theme in booth design and merchandising materials, as well as a motif on frames themselves. Here, the Woodone booth kept with the theme of the brand's wood eyewear with a wood cabin booth.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Au Natural »

The theme of Theo's booth was "Theo Loves (the Wild) Life" and used African prints and animal shaped displays in their booth.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Au Natural »

(clockwise from left) The Mazzucchelli booth also featured a wild life theme. Okia demonstrated their manufacturing techniques with these peacock-inspired frames and these Roberta di Camerino frames were shown off in some cardboard display cases.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Au Natural »

First time exhibitor Silvian Heach, who won the Bestand Award for their booth, used natural cardboard and moss to showcase their frames.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Color Rich »

Colorful booths and frames were also a reoccurring trend of the show.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Color Rich »

The Chick di Ferretto Antonio was awash in colorful imagery.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Color Rich »

Used bright neon signage (one even says Color!) to snag attention.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Color Rich »

Frames campaign imagery in frames of colorful eyeglass temples.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Future Focus »

Mido's common areas and exhibitors seemed eager for the future. Here, the interior ceiling installation in Mido's Fashion District Bar featured the "Live Colorscape," a slick multi-media event which ran over the heads of revelers and passersby.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Future Focus »

Frames that seemed to come straight out of the future as well, including Silhouette's aptly named Futura frame (right).

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Future Focus »

Booths also spoke to a focus on the future. Here, Italian brand, Glassing used stark monochrome and floating heads to display their product and evoke a feeling of and otherworldly future.

Mido 2014: Trend Spotting—Future Focus »

Newcomer Kuboraum, based in Berlin, garnered quite a bit of attention with their futuristic, post-apocalyptic booth and "mask" designs.