Eyewear in context
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Safilo
Thanks to American cinema, celluloid frames like the round ones worn by the great comic star Harold Lloyd or the elongated shape preferred by several other Hollywood stars became increasingly fashionable.
The tough war years culminated in the decline of Fascism and Italy bidding goodbye to its monarchy in favour of the Republic. Neorealism started to flourish in Italian film. Rossellini and De Sica, with their faithful descriptions of post-war human, social and political realities, symbolised a growing desire for freedom of thought and action.
Italian "teddy-boys" sped by on their Vespas and Lambrettas, showing off American-style sunglasses. This was a country undergoing profound changes as the "economic miracle" that started in the industrial triangle of Milan, Turin and Genoa gradually moved towards the northeast. The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina became a showcase for promoting protective eyewear for sports activities such as skiing and cycling as well as simply protecting against the sun and wind. This archetype played a decisive role in establishing the Italian eyewear industry in the rest of the world.
Sunglasses became more and more subject to the dictates of fashion and an expression of changing cultural horizons. Aesthetic language was influenced by pop art and optical art while the extraordinary event of man landing on the moon on 20 July 1969 changed the concept of human limits forever.
The rule in 1970s fashion was to make a statement: spectacular and futuristic glasses, glasses as gadgets, glasses as toys or sculptures were meant to shock and send out a message rather than just be worn.
These were years of contrast and contradiction: on the one hand there was transgression and a desire to be showy while on the other there was the timeless elegance of the sunglasses worn by Jacqueline Kennedy.
The Cold War ended, leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Style was characterised by aggressive yuppies and Reagan-style hedonism.
The young went wild for films like Flashdance or Staying Alive, starring John Travolta.
Consumer taste evolved and became increasingly demanding: people wanted lightness, toughness, comfort and state-of-the-art design.
Germany was reunified and the European Economic Community became the European Union, joined by Austria, Finland and Sweden.
Internet arrived and the mobile phone emerged as a mass product. Digital format became widespread with compact discs replacing vinyl and music cassettes..
With sport, health and wellbeing turning into cultural phenomena, beauty farms and organic food were more common. Top models became stars in their own right.
The concept of eyewear as a fashion item took hold even more and the biggest names in international fashion brought out their own eyewear collections. As new technologies and materials emerged, sports eyewear developed further.
The euro was established as a single currency in many European countries.
New forms of entertainment emerged thanks to the internet, home video and satellite TV. Later, interactivity and file sharing took off with social networking sites and web 2.0. Concern for the environment was heightened.
Branded eyewear was increasingly seen at fashion shows and was more integrated with other accessories, thanks to fashion houses using iconic details. At the same time, there was a visible trend in fashion and style for more eyewear from house brands, epitomised by the Carrera collection.
Safilo's founder, Guglielmo Tabacchi, was born in 1900 in Solvay, New York. His family returned to Italy in 1910 to start a business in Cadore after a successful period in the US. He inherited his father Vittorio's determination and mechanical abilities and was given a job as a fitter at the age of 18. After the First World War, Guglielmo Tabacchi went to Poland, where he set up an ice cream business with a group of friends. At 34, he returned from Poland and set himself up in the eyewear business in Italy, a sector that at this stage, in the mid-1930s, was led by 17 factories in the Belluno district, making up 88% of national production.).
The Safilo name dates back to 1934, when Guglielmo Tabacchi bought Italy's first industrial complex producing lenses and frames, which had been founded in 1878 at Pieve di Cadore, giving the new company the name Safilo. In a period of autarchy and stagnating international trade, Safilo managed to safeguard sales and thus protect employment in an area of high emigration risk. Exports grew to many European countries, North Africa, the Middle East and South America.
A new driving force arose within Safilo: the local plants on the Molinà were enhanced and powered by Pelton turbines. In the early 1940s, production was spread over three new buildings hosting 300 office and factory workers, while the old plant was modified to become a small office block. Two clusters of worker residences were built and the workers' social club was founded.
During the German occupation the Safilo plant was forced to produce only one type of eyewear, a celluloid frame in two colours, amber and reddish Havana brown. All production was sent to Germany.
Safilo developed quickly in the 1950s: exports resumed to European countries and to the US. In Italy, the sales network was reorganised with the first branches opened in Milan and Rome.
Safilo's talent for swift planning allowed the company to produce at increasingly competitive prices and introduce important technological innovations that greatly improved the whole production system.
An expansion in production along with increased quality and hiring led Safilo to become a kind of "training school" in its own right, helping to develop worker skills..
In 1964 Safilo Group opened the Santa Maria di Sala plant in the province of Venice, transferring all its production of cellulose acetate frames (celluloid was abandoned) and its administrative offices.
Safilo was awarded the Belluno Chamber of Commerce's Diploma and gold medal for its "services to labour". The President of the Republic congratulated the company on its efficiency as "an honour to Cadore, to the province of Belluno and to the nation as a whole". Dedicating production to sunglasses brought about a further increase in exports and eyewear from Cadore outstripped French and German competitors
Safilo established itself as the major Italian player in the sector. The Pieve di Cadore plant extended its manufacturing area and increased its labour force. In 1973 the Padua Service Centre was acquired. Two years later, distribution was transferred to Padua, followed by sales and administration and then the rest of the offices. In 1980, Friulplastica was founded in Martignacco, in the province of Udine, to supply the Group with metal components.
In 1974 Safilo lost its founder, Guglielmo Tabacchi, and his sons took over running the business.
In 1977 the first overseas sales office for Safilo products was opened in Belgium, followed by others in the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Germany and France.
Important technological innovations appeared, like the Elasta hinge, a Safilo patent, which became an enormous success. Safilo's UFO model of sunglasses was popular in Europe and in the US, inspired by increased interest in extraterrestrials.
1. In 1983, foreseeing the success of couturier collections in the eyewear sector, Safilo Group entered the designer circuit, buying a company that at the time distributed famous fashion labels. The company was therefore a leading figure in the transformation of its product, with prescription eyewear becoming a fashion accessory, rather than just a question of correcting eyesight.
In 1986 the Group, which already owned 50% of Starline Optical Corp, purchased the remaining stake to gain full control of one of the most important American companies in the eyewear sector.
In 1987, Safilo purchased Friuli-based Oxsol, operating mainly in the sunglasses sector. In the same year, Safilo Group was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, the first eyewear group to achieve such recognition.
The Longarone factory, which had been in operation since 1990, became one of the eyewear sector's most advanced technological sites producing metal, aluminium and titanium frames.
Other prestigious brands became part of the Safilo portfolio: making the Group a global leader in the high-end eyewear segment of the market. Oxydo and the Blue Bay brand were also launched.
In 1994 the Safilo Far East sales branch was opened in Hong Kong, with the intention of helping the Group penetrate Asian markets. The Safilo Group strengthened its presence in Europe and the rest of the world, opening branches in the UK, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, South Africa, Japan and Brazil.
In March 1996 Safilo Group purchased Smith Sport Optics Inc., an American sports eyewear company and leader in the US with 50% market share in ski eyewear. This was followed in July of the same year by the acquisition of Austria's Carrera Optyl, with production units in Austria and Slovenia.
5. In 1996 the Guglielmo Tabacchi Gallery opened at the Group's Padua headquarters, the most extensive and complete private collection of eyewear and various objects from the optical world.
New branches were opened in Europe and Asia and showrooms inaugurated in major fashion capitals.
In May 2001, Cavaliere del Lavoro Vittorio Tabacchi began a takeover bid in which he acquired full ownership of Safilo. The company returned to the Milan Stock Exchange in December 2005.
In 2001 the company inaugurated its new centralised warehouse at its Padua headquarters, a state-of-the-art structure with highly automated facilities. At this point, the distribution platform consisted of three main centres, located in Padua, Parsippany, New Jersey, and Hong Kong.
In July 2003 Safilo Group purchased Outlook Eyewear, a US distributor based in Denver.
In March 2010 the Multibrands Italy B.V. (company controlled by HAL Holding N.V.) became the majority shareholder, with 37.23% of the share capital.
Safilo Group added to its portfolio of brands on license, renewing existing co-operations and forming new partnerships. See all the Safilo house and licensed brands.
