SCENE + HEARD Opti 2017: Filled With Innovation and New Attractions As It Continues to Grow By Jamie Wilson Monday, March 13, 2017 12:00 AM MUNICH—Opti, the first show of the year, has been steadily expanding and carving out its own identity among the season’s trade shows. Being the first show, Opti presents the opportunity for brands to start out strong with their presentations and messages. This year, Opti was held from Jan. 28 to Jan. 30 and introduced many new attractions for attendees. The feeling of newness and innovation was a major focus throughout the show as Opti has been constantly expanding since it began and now covers more than 40,000 square meters in four exhibit halls. For the first time, Opti connected exhibitors and bloggers during their inaugural Blogger Spectacle. The participants included: Smokexmirrors, Bawsome, Lask, Projekt Samsen, Wood and Cotton, Brillenmanufaktur S, lool, You Mawo, Movitra Spectacles, udla, eloise eyewear, Emian Böhe, Powder Heat, housebrand, nogs and Barriqule. The first ever Blogger Spectacle Award was presented to newcomer, Barcelona-based lool eyewear. A panel of 21 European eyewear and fashion bloggers awarded the company the inaugural prize. The show also sought to put an emphasis on digital with the main theme for Opti 2017 “Optic 4.0 – Digital Solutions.” This theme was designed to be a common thread through all of the four halls and was organized into the four fields in which digitalization plays a role for an optician today and in the future: digital information and communication, digital production and automatization, digital process management and digital services. Along with the show’s expansion, Opti also debuted the area, “Vintage Passion” in the Hall C1 (!HOT area) which focused on the fascination around vintage spectacles. While the show maintained an overall cohesion, distinct atmospheres were felt while moving through the specific halls. And although every hall presented its own vibe, the tight walkways of each were filled with attendees as they walked to appointments, browsed through colorful displays or snapped photos of innovative booth designs. Opti shows no signs of slowing down. Next year’s show is scheduled from Friday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018, in Munich. In addition to the traditional four trade show halls C1 to C4, Hall B4 will also be used as the show continues to grow.