SILMO Paris opens Friday: AI moves from demo to buyer's checklist
Leeyewear
SILMO Paris runs 25–28 September at Paris Nord Villepinte, Halls 6 and 7. Doors open at 9:00 and close at 18:30 all four days. Expect close to 900 exhibitors and more than 1,500 brands, with buyers arriving from over 40 countries. The floor was already 90% booked by early summer, and it shows.
This year's focus is hard to miss. SILMO Next, the show's forward-looking platform, centres on AI, connected eyewear and digital services - and the exhibitor list reflects it, with smart-glasses names such as Ray-Ban Meta, Solos and Laclarée among those expected on the floor. The conference programme follows the same thread, with sessions on smart eyewear and AI-assisted fitting across the four days.
We see this shift from the manufacturing side, and it is already changing what buyers ask us. More clients want to know whether a frame line can be built smart-ready - hinge placement, space for a battery or electronics - even when they do not plan to launch an AI model this season. That is a question of materials, moulding and tolerances, and it is one we have answered in production, not just on paper.
On our current AI glasses project we handled the frame's inner-slot design, the mould and the full production run. Slot position and size change with each pair's function - a camera module needs a different cavity from an audio module - so frame development has to move in step with the electronics supplier. We build the frame; our partners supply the electronics. Keeping those two sides in sync is where experience matters, and it is a workflow we have already run end to end.
→ Product: [AI glasses]
Beyond smart-ready frames, our core range covers injection-moulded frames in PC, TR90, nylon, TPU and PP, plus acetate, titanium, carbon fibre and metal-alloy frames. We run OEM and ODM for private label and have spent 20 years in this trade.
The Silmo d'Or ceremony takes place on the evening of the 26th, and this year's design contest poses the question "The future of optics – what vision?" - a fair summary of where the industry is heading.
One practical note if you are heading to Paris this week: bring your line plan, not just your badge. If you are reviewing smart-ready, acetate or titanium frames for next season and want a supplier with samples ready and honest lead times, send us your drawing or a reference photo before you fly. We will have options on the table by the time the doors open.
Contact: Rain@leeyewear.com