Delirious Eyewear has been given special recognition as well as two highly regarded finalists’ prizes in Who’s on Next 2018, the Vogue Italia/AltaRoma contest which recognizes young fashion and design talents continuing the “Made in Italy” tradition. The brand is fast becoming one of Italy’s youngest success stories in independent eyewear. 20/20 Europe talked to the 29-year-old founder Marco Lanero.

20/20 EUROPE: WHICH PRIZES DID YOU WIN AT THE PRESTIGIOUS WHO’S ON NEXT IN JUNE?
ML: Delirious Eyewear received a special mention from the jury at Who’s on Next this year. The jury was impressed by our work, the quality of the product, the design and the no-brand concept—they also recognized the attention we pay to specialist materials such as water buffalo horn and titanium, materials that are not yet well known in the fashion industry. We also won the Sugar prize, which is awarded by an avant-garde fashion concept store in Arezzo (Tuscany), who we will be collaborating with in a presentation in-store shortly, and we were also presented with the prestigious Tomorrow prize, which will give us special access to exhibit our eyewear collections in the Tomorrow fashion showrooms in Milan later this year.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF THIS RECOGNITION INITIALLY?
We have had an overwhelmingly positive reaction and many new contacts, and we are expecting to see the impact continue throughout the next months. As a result of the Who’s on Next awards, we will also be exhibiting at the four-day Vogue Italia event during Milan Fashion Week, along with the other eight finalists at the end of September. This event is very well attended by the international fashion press and international fashion buyers.

TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT DELIRIOUS—THE BRAND IS JUST A FEW YEARS OLD.
Delirious was founded in 2012; we started with the no-brand concept, and that has just continued—it IS who we are. We focus on quality, innovative design and high-level production, and that is my ongoing preoccupation as we introduce new materials and new innovative combinations in our designs. Our focus is now to expand the business commercially into new markets, even as far afield as India and Africa. We are quickly becoming known in Europe, and the Who’s on Next recognition has propelled our new business forward—in Italy, but also in countries like France and Germany.

YOU ARE CAREFUL IN SELECTING YOUR DESIGNS AND UNIQUE MATERIALS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE ABOUT THIS DIRECTION AND YOUR CONSCIOUS DECISION NOT TO USE BRANDING?
Yes, this is a combination of different elements. First, the aim is to give the customer the chance to buy something because they like it, not because of a name on a temple. And they are therefore paying for the design and for the creativity and individual materials, and not for the name. Our glasses are not cheap, but nor are they so expensive; we believe we are offering good value for money in a product that has real quality in the craftsmanship and design.

WHERE IS THE COLLECTION AVAILABLE?
We are in several leading concept stores such as Antonioli in Milan; the collection is also now at Visionary Optics, NYC; Lichtung Eyewear, Vienna; Oogappel, Amsterdam; Akkerman, Rotterdam and Epice, Osaka. We are looking to work with the best opticians globally.

DELIRIOUS WILL EXHIBIT AT SILMO. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW COLLECTION LAUNCH?
The Paris show is an opportunity to show a new optical collection in exquisite buffalo horn, some combination designs in titanium and beta titanium and our new acetate styles. We are looking forward to showing the collections to the international audience at SILMO.

WILL WE SEE THE BRAND AGAIN AT THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOWS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 2019 AND AT TRANOI?
Yes, after SILMO, we are exhibiting at OPTI Munich for the first time in October 2019. We will continue our regular presence at the TRANOI events in Paris next year, and we expect to appear at more international optical shows through 2019.