This show is too crowded! This show is so dead. Is it cold in here? Is it hot in here? Did you see that amazing booth made out of packing crates? Did you see that stupid booth made out of packing crates? What’s that horrible music I’m hearing? I love that live music being played at that booth by that Brit guy who looks like Peter Sellers.

The range of opinions and reactions at any given trade show is... well... it’s a given in any direction. But there is one statement that bears CONSTANT repeating. Nothing beats Silmo in Paris for seeing the hottest trends in eyewear. Even if massive players don’t show up and even if the temperature can range from bone chilling to blood boiling, the French have a knack for perfect style, always slightly disheveled.

Deadlines were tight so please allow this month’s edit column for some Silmo observations.
  • Jason Kirk provided the best live entertainment at the show with the trans-chamber sounds of The McCarricks at the newly modernized Kirk Originals booth.
  • We truly miss Madame Lafont but were as-ever awed admiring the new museum-like rooms of eyewear inspiration at the Lafont booth. 
  • One would guess that cats and dogs and kids were always right in understanding that the box is often better than the actual gift. On that note with a gasp and a giggle we award the 20/20 Innovative Booth Award to ic! berlin as they endlessly constructed (and deconstructed) a booth made out of packing tape, packing boxes and a package transport.
  • And quickly: Best Eyewear Catalog: Paul Frank from Baumvision; Best Show Posters: Cheap Trick in John Varvatos Eyewear; Ugliest Eyewear @ Silmo: Pyrate-Style; Best No-Booth Booth: Persol.

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