FIRST PERSON

5 Questions for…

Safilo’s Luisa Delgado

safilo CEO Luisa Delgado joined the company during a time of change and brings with her a perspective, honed by years as an executive at Proctor & Gamble, that is shaping a new future for the frame manufacturer. Here she shares insights on Safilo and the optical industry.

eb: How did you select Safilo’s children’s initiative, spearheaded by the Kids by Safilo eyewear launch, as a focus?

ld: This project was killed three times before it was born, but when you come from a different industry where your mission was to identify new markets, create products, and grow the market, you think differently. You start off with how many children there are worldwide: 1.6 billion. Then identify how many of these children have a vision defect…1 in 6. So then divide 1.6 billion by 6 and you come to a market that’s pretty sizable. Then you go and look at what products are out there for children, and you come to the conclusion that there were no brilliant, complete, holistic products. [Kids by Safilo] is the opportunity to serve unmet needs that nobody else has really bothered much about. (See p. 77 for launch information.)

eb: What does the Kids by Safilo launch mean for the future of the company?

ld: Let’s use Kids by Safilo as an example of a cultural change in our company. It’s an important initiative in itself, but it also has a catalyst role of a cultural transformation in our company.

It’s an innovative approach, and I think what has to change in eyewear. What’s changing in our company is the historical assumption that in Italy you can only make eyewear that costs 200, 250 euros retail. We didn’t even try to do anything else in Italy. It reminds me of watchmaking in Switzerland in the ‘70s. Until somebody came and said, if you don’t learn to do cheaper, more novel, more creative watches in Switzerland, maybe there won’t be watchmaking in Switzerland…and thus was born Swatch.

eb: What will happen to Safilo as you transition Gucci to Kering?

ld: Gucci has been with us for 19 years, and we have come to an agreement with Kering to let the license go two years earlier. We will temporarily manufacture and develop products made in Italy as a transition. Therefore, for us, Kering is a settled matter.

Gucci’s departure means opportunity for a refocusing of Safilo and our customers on growing brands and on new brands and on brands that perhaps will want to be present in fewer doors. That’s an opportunity for the optician to have something that’s not everywhere.

eb: Moving forward, how is Safilo’s product portfolio changing?

ld: Today our proprietary brands represent 20% of our business. In the future we want to double that business and add on a few acquisitions, making proprietary brands 40% of our total portfolio. We are interested in supplementing our portfolio further, but we are not in a hurry because we have proprietary brands that have been underdeveloped, and that’s task number one. The second thing that’s happening is we are balancing our licensed portfolio.

eb: What do you see in the future for U.S. eyecare practitioners?

ld: We are seeing a segment of consumers who are looking for innovative, interesting, and, yes, wearable styles. They are also looking for brand diversity that perhaps wasn’t the same 10, 15 years ago when there was a concentration of mass brands that we all knew and one or two other designer brands that we also all knew.

We are jointly building our business with the optician, making sure that we find the best assortment and provide the best service. We are attentive to what the needs are that allow us to build and reinvest in business together.

For the complete interview with Luisa Delgado, visit eyecarebusiness.com