MIDO 2025: enhanced Digital Tools for an increasingly connected experience

Exhibition layout: changes and developments at MIDO 2025

In 2025, the MIDO exhibition layouts will undergo significant changes to provide visitors with an even more engaging and innovative experience.

The Design area: a realm of creativity and vision

One of the key innovations concerns pavilions 2 and 4, that will continue to host the iconic Design Area. This space, featuring the industry’s most visionary creatives, is a laboratory of experimentation where shapes and materials combine to narrate the many faces of eyewear. The reorganization of the spaces in 2025 will allow MIDO to welcome a significant number of new exhibitors and the expansion of some stands. In addition, the return of some notable past exhibitors will further elevate this already extremely popular and highly appreciated area.

New location for the Academy

The Academy – a sought-after area featuring companies whose focus is on designer originality and creativity – is relocating. From pavilion 2, it will return to pavilion 6, historically set aside for Tech. This change marks a new phase for the Academy, that will bring creative energy to an area focused on technological innovation. The synergy between these two vital forces – design and technology – will offer visitors a unique experience, inspiring new connections between cutting-edge styles and technical advances.

The piazzas: nerve centers of the show

Even the piazzas, MIDO’s nerve centers, will undergo some alterations. The famous Fashion Square, crossroads for the big brands and a magnet for connoisseurs of fashion and luxury, will be updated to make it more functional.
Special attention will be focused on the piazzas in pavilions 2-4, cornerstone of the Design area. These spaces, which have consistently embodied creativity and innovation, aim to further enhance the visitor experience and thus strengthen their role as the epicenter of visionary trends.

Thanks to these changes, MIDO 2025 promises to exceed all expectations, delivering an exhibition journey that celebrates excellence in all its forms – from luxury to technology, by way of avant-garde design.

The Vision Stage:
MIDO announces the renaming of the historic Otticlub area

The Vision Stage: this is the new name of the area featuring MIDO workshops, seminars, conferences, events and round tables. Its renaming signifies a new phase of evolution and growth, and marks a pivotal shift in positioning, intended to reflect the expansion of its activities and to emphasize the core essence of this space as a place of dialog and discovery.

The origins: from “Health and Innovation” to Otticlub
Otticlub’s history dates back to2011, with the establishment of “Health and Innovation”, a place to hold workshops and conferences of interest to the companies in the ‘lenses’ pavilion, powered by ANFAO.
In 2012, the internationalization of MIDO and the need to engage Italian visitors led to the creation of a new area focused primarily on Italian opticians: and Otticlub was born. With expanded capacity and a lounge added for networking, Otticlub quickly became a hub for all visitors, trade journals and associations, hosting training events and continuing education.

Transformation of the area and its conversion to The Vision Stage
In the years that followed, Otticlub continued to evolve, becoming an authentic all-encompassing container of ideas, diversifying its target and including an ever-increasing number of exhibitors and stakeholders.
The topics became increasingly varied and broad, with medically-oriented events (myopia, presbyopia, amblyopia, protection of the eyes, nanotechnologies, contact lenses, progressive lenses, the role of screening in prevention of vision disabilities, and discussions on the most innovative medical technologies and treatments), in-depth analyses of the market and consumption trends, design and sales techniques. Over the years, many high-profile non-industry guests have diversified the program: Barbara Serra, Massimo Bottura, Albert Watson, Paolo Ferrarini, Antonio Mancinelli, Ernst Knam, Ico Migliore, Chiara Tagliaferri, Diego Dalla Palma, Nick Cerioni, and many others.
For 2025, there is a definite need to emphasize and validate the significant change to this area that led to the renaming. Otticlub will metamorphose into The Vision Stage at the next edition of MIDO.

The 2025 calendar and forthcoming innovations
The next edition will boast a calendar full of events designed to offer participants many opportunities for professional development and personal growth. Topics like digitization, innovation, social responsibility, Made in Italy, sustainability, empowerment of women, and market trends will be at the heart of the seminars and workshops, with the aim of providing valuable resources for professionals. The complete schedule of events will soon be available on the website www.mido.com, with content accessible only to those who register in the dedicated section and for ANFAO members. All of the conferences and meetings will be available for viewing all year long in the private area of the website.

Why The Vision Stage?
“Stage” refers to the theater stage, the place where innovations and ideas take shape and are shared with the audience. “Vision” is not only the main theme of the show but above all is a forward-looking tribute – an overview that looks to the future of eyewear, embracing topics like innovation, sustainability and Made in Italy. “The” lends a more authoritative tone, accentuating the role as a central stage that, in MIDO, finds its natural positioning as the indisputable industry leader.

MIDO 2025: NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS OPEN AS OF TODAY

This year, winner of the 1st edition of the Sergio Cereda Design Award will be announced

Milano, 1st October 2024 – As of today, nomination applications are available for the MIDO 2025Awards. Application forms are available in the Awards section of the mido.com website.

Through December 13th, MIDO 2025 exhibitors can apply to participate in the Certified Sustainable Eyewear (CSE) Award, now in its 3rd edition, created by MIDO in partnership with ANFAO and Certottica, that assesses sustainability in the eyewear industry at an international level. Participants can nominate a pair of sunglasses, eyewear frames or an eyewear case. A panel of expert judges will evaluate the competing products which must have been produced in compliance with the principles of sustainability – recycling of materials, reduced consumption in the production and distribution processes, and maximization of the supply chain are some of the criteria the jury will use to determine the winners.

Up to 15th January, MIDO exhibitors can also nominate their stands for participation in the Stand Up For Green Award, that recognizes the most sustainable stand in terms of itsfocus on environmental impact and use of materials. The award grew out of the idea to acknowledge a commitment to safeguarding the environment and emphasis on good practices for sustainable living. The jury will base its decision on stand display, level of innovation, originality and the ability to convey a positive message to the public about the importance of green choices for the future of humanity and the planet.

Through 8th January, opticians from around the world can apply to participate in the Best Store Award, which this year is in its 10th edition. It recognizes the best international optical shop and is divided into two categories: Design and Innovation. An international jury composed of design and retail experts, managers, creative directors, journalists and designers will decide the winners based on outstanding shopping experience, atmosphere, furnishings, and materials, or a special layout of the retail space (for the Design category); and for digital and traditional communications, interaction, customer services offered, as well as the history of the store and its human and emotional qualities (for the Innovation category).

MIDO launches “REFOCUSING ON HUMANS”,
the new communication campaign shot by Uli Weber

Opening of visitor and press registration also announced

Milano, 20 September 2024 – Refocusing its priority on people and celebrating the return of value (and to the values) of human creativity: this is the message MIDO aims to convey with the photos taken by internationally acclaimed photographer Uli Weber.

Starting today, on our website, registration is open to visitors and journalists planning to attend the exhibition, set to take place at Fiera Milano Rho from February 8 to 10, 2025. And, once again, it is proactively bucking trends with a new communication campaign. With “Refocusing on Humans”,MIDOis emphasizing human creativity and its artisanal capacity to create beauty.

In 2023,when there was much talk about artificial intelligence but still few who were actually using it, MIDO launched the pioneering campaign “Spheres - The Eyewear Universe”, the first in the industry to use AI to create images. Now, while many are applying this technology, MIDO foresees an urgent need that can already be clearly perceived in society – to relaunch human intelligence and its ability to produce new ideas.

With these objectives, for the third consecutive season, creative direction of the campaign was entrusted to Max Galli, in collaboration with Mixer Group. “I imagined an idea of beauty that could grow out of the palpable, material know-how that only the “hearts” and “hands” of the true artisans of eyewear know how to convey,” observed Max Galli.“A visual and conceptual message that diverges from the artificiality of the many intelligences that populate our current reality and that returns humans to the central role.”

Thus arose the idea of a collaboration with a photographic artist, Uli Weber, known internationally for his captivating work in the worlds of fashion, advertising and portraiture. German by birth, Weber mastered his art in Italy, where he developed the ability to create profoundly dramatic images that combine mystery, romanticism and glamour. His photographs are famous in the world of Fine Arts and have been exhibited in museums around the globe.

Intercultural and sophisticated, “Refocusing on Humans” will appear globally in print and on the internet and will be developed around more than one subject, to be revealed in the coming months.

Starting today visitor registration is open. Last year, more than 40,000 attended from 160 countries. Simply complete the form on the official website by clicking on this link https://www.mido.com/en/entry-pass. Journalists can register here https://www.mido.com/en/press-registration.

To always be up to date on MIDO news, visit the website www.mido.com and the official social channels
Instagram@mido_exhibition, Facebook@MIDOExhibition  X@MIDOExhibition and Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/mido/posts/.

MIDO 2025 | Refocusing on Humans
Agency: Mixer Group
Creative and Art Direction: Max Galli
Photo: Uli Weber
Copy: Sara Lometti
Productions: ARTalents
Account Director: Martina Vailati