2019 Sunglasses Workshop and Awards announcement and winners
The annual Sunglasses Workshop and Awards were held on Tuesday, October 1 at the TFWA World Exhibition and Conference in Cannes. From travel retailers, airport authorities, brand owners and other industry stakeholders, more than 180 delegates attended the event.
Establishing an information-sharing platform to support the growth of the sunglasses category in travel retail, the eleventh iteration of the event was co-hosted by leading Sunglasses suppliers: De Rigo, Essilor, Kering Eyewear, Luxottica, Marchon, Marcolin, Maui Jim, and Safilo and moderated by Dermot Davitt, President of The Moodie Davitt Report.
The workshop commenced with an announcement by Lucy Hillyard, Public Relations Director, FILTR, on behalf of the eight sunglasses suppliers, revealing that the category is putting plans in motion to work with Generation Research to form a Sunglasses Data panel. The project is designed to create an accurate indication of the true performance of the category, providing top-line data that is aggregated to reflect category performance on a global level and by macro-regions (Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Americas).
Following the announcement, Luca Solca, Managing Director of Luxury Goods at Bernstein delivered a keynote address. With over 30 years of experience in the luxury goods and retail industry, Mr. Solca provided insights into how luxury players can maintain strong growth momentum in a digital world.
The Workshop ended with a panel discussion that featured Meili Lee, Director of Fashion, China Duty Free, Adrian Pittaway, Head of Retail, MSC Cruises and Jan Richter, Director of Fashion & Accessories, Gebr. Heinemann. The dynamic panel discussion saw the panelists sharing their perspectives on a number of topics such as category insights, the role of digital and opportunities for growth in areas including personalization, speed to market and travel retail exclusives.
Once again, the climax of the event was the annual Sunglasses Awards, recognizing and rewarding the best-in-class activities in the category over the last 12 months. The following is a list of winners from the top eight categories:
- Best Dedicated Sunglasses Sales Team – Dufry, Zurich Airport
- Best New Sunglasses Environment – Gebr. Heinemann, Hamburg Airport
- Best Marketing Activity: On-Airport – Dufry
- Best Marketing Activity: Off-Airport – China Duty Free Group, Haitang Bay
- Best Digital Initiative for the Sunglasses Category – Gebr. Heinemann
- Best Off-Airport Sunglasses Retailer – The Shilla Duty Free
- Sunglasses Retailer of the Year (under USD2bn) – Beirut Duty Free
- Sunglasses Retailer of the Year (over USD2bn) – The Shilla Duty Free
This year, the Partnership Award was presented to DFS Group.
The co-sponsors concluded: “After 11 years of category collaboration, the Sunglasses Workshop and Awards remains a unique partnership between industry stakeholders and a truly rewarding journey as we head towards Vision 2020. Being joined on-stage by such remarkable partners as MSC Cruises, Gebr. Heinemann and China Duty Free Group is an amazing testament to the relevance and support that the category enjoys. Congratulations to all of those short-listed and of course to the deserving winners of the 2019 awards. We look forward to welcoming everyone again in 2020.”
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