PEOPLE

1 Following a 15-year tenure at the company, Rebecca Giefer has been appointed as CEO of MODO Americas. She will help lead the company alongside Giovanni Lo Faro, CEO of MODO International, and Tara Montanari, director of M Factory, MODO’s Brooklyn-based factory. Alessandro Lanaro, MODO’s founder and main shareholder, will assume the newly created position of global CEO of the group.

Paragon Vision Sciences, part of the CooperVision Specialty EyeCare division, appointed Joel Kamp as U.S. commercial director. This follows his success as a director of corporate accounts at CooperVision.

Lance Anderson, O.D., one of the co-founders of PECAA, has returned to the company, now serving as vice president of strategic initiatives—a newly developed role on the executive team.

BUSINESS UPDATES

l.a.Eyeworks and Ogi Eyewear have formed The Optical Foundry, a multibrand eyewear platform comprising a wide set of independent optical brands, including l.a.Eyeworks, its sister design initiative, FICTION, and the Ogi family of eyewear collections. Robert Rich, CEO of l.a.Eyeworks and former CEO of Ogi Eyewear from 2004 to 2016, will lead The Optical Foundry.

Starting with the Fall 2019 selling season, all of Safilo’s globally produced POP marketing materials, namely counter cards or show cards, will be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified. FSC certification ensures that items come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.

2 Total ECP and Visionary Eye Partners have merged to form Keplr Vision, a business support services company built to invest in medically focused optometry practices. Along with Nick Williams as CEO, Keplr is led by Ben Gaddie, O.D., as chief medical officer and Adam Rosengren as chief operating officer. Keplr has 80 clinics across 19 states under its management.

MISCELLANEOUS

EssilorLuxottica has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 52 companies that “Change the World,” acknowledging the group’s commitment to eradicate poor vision by 2050.

AWARDS

Costa’s Waterwoman frame won the title of Best of Category—Eyewear during the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) 2019 New Product Showcase Awards—Costa’s first women’s style that has won the award and its 11th ICAST award overall.

ALL EYES ON OPTI

Opti Munich International Trade Show for Optics & Design returns to Munich Jan. 10-12, 2020. The show will once again span six halls, featuring a redesign of the fair’s northeast entrance for an easier flow of foot traffic.

“We have taken away many valuable suggestions from numerous discussions and meetings during and after the trade show, which we will implement at the [2020] event,” says opti project manager Bettina Reiter.

A new online marketplace—an expanded index of exhibitors on the opti website that allows users to make connections and arrange appointments before the start of the fair—has also been launched to streamline show preparation.

For more information: opti.de/en .