Mido President Cirillo Marcolin tours the show with Ivan Scalfarotto, Italy Undersecretary for Economic Development.
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MILAN, Italy—Organizers of Mido, the 47th edition of the optical exhibition held here Feb 24 to 26, reported attendance this year reached a record-setting 55,000, a 5.5 percent increase over attendance the previous year. The exhibition featured 1,200 exhibitors, including 106 new ones.

Reinforcing the importance that Mido holds for the Italian system was the visit of the Undersecretary for Economic Development Ivan Scalfarotto who, in addition to the pavilions, visited the much-photographed The Glasses Hype exhibition on the history of eyewear seen through communication and marketing.


“Business, social events, trends, innovation, technology, testing and investigation were the buzzwords at Mido 2017,” stated Mido president Cirillo Marcolin, “making it a not-to-be-missed appointment for all the trade and an invaluable moment to network and gain new insights into the profession and industry trends. The vitality of the industry could also be perceived in the stands, where the comments were positive from among many of the exhibitors.” During the the three-day event, some 20,000 posts were hashtagged #MIDO2017 and #Livethewonder, and several international fashion and eyewear influencers have shared their opinions and comments about the show to their millions of followers.

“In addition to the many visitors from other countries,” noted Giovanni Vitaloni, vice president of Mido, “this year there were a good number of visits by Italian trade people throughout the weekend, which peaked on Sunday. In the mid-afternoon especially, the aisles were particularly crowded, coinciding with the arrival of the free trains from the four cities serviced. We are already working on the next exhibition, on new projects, topics to develop and what to focus on.”

Next year’s Mido will be held Feb. 24 to 26 at the Rho-Pero exhibition center. Watch for more photos and a recap of Mido from Vision Monday next week.