Stars of excellence and innovation

Coinciding with the brand celebrating three decades of creativity and innovation, Design Eyewear Group’s Face à Face won the sunglasses award with model Flare. At just 24, Diane Bliek led the design of the winning concept, making her one of the youngest Silmo d’Or winners in history. The team was thrilled to win this award for the brand’s 30th anniversary, said Bliek. “Flare began as a research model based on lens cutting and grew into a frame of striking contrasts and surprising, asymmetrical cuts. What I love most is how our exclusive striped acetates interact with the shape, creating a graphic and optical interplay.”

The award also underlines the strength of Design Eyewear Group’s creative direction, with WOOW honoured as a finalist in the same category, said CEO Lars Flyvholm. “Following last year’s Silmo d’Or win with Prodesign’s Censur, this dual recognition of two distinct brands illustrates the company’s ability to foster diverse design languages while upholding a consistently high level of craftsmanship.”

Optical frame/eyewear designer: Dzmitry Samal with Luc

Formerly a car designer, Paris-based Dzmitry Samal’s dynamic polygon, Luc, featuring matte indentations and coloured resin inserts, proved a success with both jury and voters. Lightweight, graphic and elegant – Luc is a contemporary take on the logo frame.

Children – Manti Manti with 3D collection

German-based contemporary and colourful kids’ eyewear brand Manti Manti was awarded the Silmo d’Or in the kids’ eyewear category for its 3D collection in sustainable PA11 made from castor beans. Created with advanced 3D printing, the faces and arms are printed separately and then assembled into ultra-lightweight, flexible and durable frames. The Manti Manti founding duo said the process reduces waste, offers greater design freedom and ensures a perfect fit for children's active lifestyles.

Optical frame/eyewear maker: Vanni with Extra

Vanni scooped the prestigious Eyewear Brand of the Year award with its latest collection, Extra. “The Silmo d'Or ‘Marque Lunetière’ award recognises design and celebrates innovation and creativity in the optical industry. We are truly thrilled to have received this award,” said Vanni co-founders Alessandra Girardi and Giovanni Vitaloni. “More than just an accessory, Extra is a bold style statement: the frames feature unique contours and a distinctive design, adding a touch of personality without compromising on comfort.” Cut from 8mm acetate, the frames feature continuous nose pads.

Extra’s unisex shape is dedicated to a new generation of wearers seeking distinctive frames that complement all facial features, they said. “This design stands out for its thickness and extraordinary density of contemporary forms. Its faceted profile visually softens the frontal impact of the thick frames, maintaining a solid structure and lightness.”

Sunglasses/eyewear maker: Piero Massaro with Tramonti di pietra

Piero Massaro's award-winning Saline collection is timelessly elegant, drawing inspiration from light dancing on the Italian salt flats, with red and yellow coming together like two sunsets reflected in the water. The limited edition collection’s production pieces are numbered.

Piero Massaro

Sport: Evil Eye Eyewear with Speedsense

The winner in the Sports category features a rimless shield frame offering an unobstructed field of vision and maximum protection for sports activities. Its lens locking system, an integrated lever mechanism, allows athletes to change lenses quickly and safely, a “unique” feature for shield-type frames, the company said.

Smart eyewear: EssilorLuxottica with Nuance Audio

Nuance Audio’s all-in-one hearing and vision solution is designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss, allowing them to hear better in noisy environments. The ‘invisible’ hearing solution is integrated into the frame of the prescription-ready glasses. Nuance Audio glasses feature adaptive listening modes, focused on the person the wearer is looking at, and can be easily controlled from an app or remote control. Battery charge lasts up to eight hours. Nuance Audio is classed as a medical device and is available in both New Zealand and Australia.

Essilor Nuance Audio glasses

Special Jury Prize: Sapiens with ER-1813 M

Spanish design group Sapiens create eyewear inspired by certain skulls from human evolution. This model, ER1813-M, based on a Homo habilis skull, code KNM-ER 1813, was born from an idea to create a pair of sunglasses like a mask, but with the option of inserting prescription lenses.

Special Jury Prize – Sapiens

In the Labels category, Tag Heuer and Yohji Yamamoto won the optical and sunglass awards, respectively, while ACEP’s Smart Mirror AI won the Material/equipment category for its innovative and fully automated measuring tool capturing the best eyewear position measurements in 10 seconds.

Also in the tech field, the Silmo d’Or for Technological innovation in Eyewear was awarded to QED Eyewear for its sustainable patented fastening system that is durable, reversible, glue-free, washer-free and contains no consumable parts, while the award for Vision was won by Rodenstock for its B.I.G. EXACT Sensitive, the first lens customised to an individual's visual sensitivity and biometrics.

The Committed Company Award went to Friendly Frenchy for its efforts to drive sustainable development. This is achieved by designing, creating, manufacturing and selling materials and products made from natural, recycled or innovative materials while prioritising partnerships with inclusive organisations and local stakeholders, said the company.