Today,
we’ll introduce “tide – The IOFT Int’l Designers”.
This
time, we will feature two of exhibitors at tide.
First, let
us introduce a brand which has charming coloring like French-pop taste and
elaborated shape.
Interviewee:
Mr. Pascal Jaulent, President and Artistic Director, Face à
Face / Architectures
Interviewer:Haruka. International PR, IOFT Show Management
Haruka:
Then, please
introduce briefly the history and brand’s concept of Face à Face.
 |
| [Mr.Jaulent] |
Mr.
Jaulent (Face à Face):
Since 1995, the Architectures Company
creates, produces and distributes optical frames and sunglasses under the “Face
à Face" brand name.
On an original
concept developed by me, President of the company and a group of people in love
with the glasses, impassioned of architecture and contemporary design, created
the company Architectures and launched the Face à Face brand name.
Like an architect, Face à Face works with volumes,
shapes, materials, colours and textures to give its glasses the power to
express the personality of their wearer, whether that’s bold, carefree,
energetic, independent or even seductive.
Haruka:
So your eyewear is totally elaborated in various
aspects, isn’t it?
Is IOFT exactly a good opportunity for you to appeal
your brand to Japanese and Asian buyers?
Mr. Jaulent
Yes, it is. We’d like to see existent
customers as well as new customers who are interested in our collection. For
those people, we really would like to show our new release for 2012. Besides,
we also want to meet Japanese opticians, buyers from
other countries who will come to the show, department stores and specialty
stores for sunglasses.
Haruka:
It’s so moving. Thank you.
Also, we will welcome about 400 overseas buyers this
year. Hope you’ll like it!
Mr. Jaulent:
Sure. Let’s me introduce a new collection
which is going to be exhibited at IOFT.
 |
| [MAEVA] |
MAEVA
MAEVA is inspired by one of the oldest popular crafts,
the art of “ORIGAMI” that brings together the techniques of folding and cutting
out. MAEVA perfectly illustrates duality, a theme dear to the Face à Face
creation.
A real technical challenge brought an exceptionally
sophisticated result.
Haruka:
Japanese origami! That’s totally unique.
Overseas people pay attention to the Japanese old traditional beauty and
express it as a work in different interpretation from us. That makes us aware
the renewed beauty that even Japanese people haven’t noticed.
Mr. Jaulent:
We hope we could fight the discount shops by offering a
unique French handmade eyewear with very high quality which is distributed to
only selective shops.
Dare being different!
Any buyer who is interested in our
brand, please contact our Japanese agent and make an appointment.
Contact: Tomozo Urabe, Tel: 080 5318
6758
Haruka:
Wow! What a powerful message. Thank you very much, Mr.
Jaulent.
All buyers who are interested in Face à Face, make an appointment as soon as possible!
Then, let’s move to next exhibitor.
You can’t forget a person who was wearing the glasses of
this brand.
Next brand from Belgian will give such a vivid impression
to us.
Interviewee:
Mr. Kurt
Vanoosterweyck, Ambassador for Japan,
theo Japan
Haruka:
Speaking
of theo, it not too much to say that it is one of the absolutely essential
brand for tide. I think most of you have already known about theo, but please
introduce your brand once more.
 |
| [Mr.Kurt] |
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck (Theo):
In
1987 Wim Somers and Patrick Hoet, both opticians with their own store, had
become bored with the mainstream glasses they were selling. So they decided to
launch a collection themselves. In 1989, the first glasses became a fact. They
called it theo, an anagram of Hoet. And it turned out a big success! theo currently
ships to about 1400 sales outlets in more than 50 countries.
theo
never strayed from its original goal: innovative design through the application
of new techniques, sometimes never before used in the industry. theo is
Belgian, happy, self-willed and comes with a funny twist. A pair of theo
glasses underlines the personality of the wearer, it does not determine it!
Haruka:
Well, most of your eyewear show originality and their impression
will change depend on wearers. However, the wearers will surly leave impressions
like “That is the person who was wearing those glasses!” theo’s eyewear is
filled with exactly the essence you are appealing.
By the way, tide –The IOFT
Int’l Designers- is launched from this year.
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck:
Yeah,
we’re very curious about the area. In the world-famous exhibitions such as
Silmo and Mido, the designer brands are also put together in one hall and
personally, I like this very much. For us, it’s an extra push to have a nice
collection and a nice booth because our neighbors will also do their very best!
Haruka:
I’m glad to hear that. We have to do our best not to
let you down!
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck:
theo
is taking the prevailing ‘nerd trend’ very literally and is creating its very
own version. This means that we can poke a little fun at them, in our own theo
way. What are nerds keen on? Mathematics. What is the peak of nerdiness? No
idea, but wearing glasses that carry mathematical symbols comes pleasantly
close to it! The bicolor model Huitante+six has mathematical symbols on the
front and on the sidepieces. These colorful ‘glazed’ rivets - milled out and
filled with epoxy resin - contrast sharply with the titanium frame. The black
top and fluorescent pink bottom make this frame definitely eye-catching, yet
very wearable, feminine and sexy.
 |
| [Huitante + six] |
Haruka:
I
thought that the combination of black and fluorescent pink is very tricky, but
you’ve done a wonderful job! They can be our favorite glasses with moderate
nerd trend and they will bring out feminine attraction.
By
the way, who would you like to meet during IOFT?
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck:
We
are on the lookout for high end shops who want to invest in their future and of
course in our collection. We are convinced that the theo collection really
stands out in the Japanese ‘world of glasses’.
Added
value is becoming more and more important for the wearer as well as showing off
his or her own identity. So shops that are offering more unique pairs of
glasses, like the theo collection, are very appealing for (future) clients.
Haruka:
I see.
Added value that eyewear can offer is very important in addition to “Being able
to see” and “Stylish”.
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck:
theo
believes in a strong and good relationship with the opticians. We like to talk
face to face with them and listen to what they have to say. The same goes for
new clients. We have to show Japanese clients that theo is an international
brand and that we take the Japanese market very seriously. That’s why we
exhibit at IOFT continuously. Beisides, the smooth and perfect organization of
the show is very attractive. We are very happy to be back to IOFT 2011!
Haruka:
Thank
you! I’m sure Staffs at eyewear shops will like theo much more.
Mr.
Vanoosterweyck:
Although
theo exists for over 20 years now, theo manages to keep every collection fresh
and original. Each collection we try to move the bar up a few notches. At the
same time, theo feels very strongly about long-term partnerships. If you’re looking for an
exciting collection but also for a reliable partner, please visit our booth!
Discover the magic of theo eyewear. Be astonished by the wonderful colors,
original shapes and nice people!
Buyers
who want to make an appointment during the show.
Please
contact to:
Haruka:
Thank
you very much, Mr. Vanoosterweyck! That’s was an exciting story.
If I
were a buyer, I could ask much more questions at your booth.
[Editor’s
Note]
This
time, we introduced exhibitors of a new exhibit area “tide –The IOFT Int’l Designers”. Overseas
designers’ brands gathered at this area have specially very original and novel
eyewear. Such a special eyewear will fill one area! We can’t miss IOFT 2011!
Also
next time, we will introduce other designers of tide.
Written & Edited by Haruka Miyata, International PR, IOFT Show Management
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