It Takes a Village: Italian Expertise Reigns Once More

By Paddy Kamen

With a signature artistic collection known as Sospiri, Ottica Veneta and Canadian distributor Chantilli are partnering for success.

The Ottica Veneta story is inspiring indeed and rich with Italian heritage. It begins with Riccardo Lamon, a native of Northern Italy, where the Lamon family has been in the restaurant business for many years. “I grew up in the business, which was in the Veneto region, a mountainous area near Venice where the major eyewear factories are located. My family knew all the locals from the industry.”

While eyewear wasn’t his first calling in life (Lamon worked in real estate development), it became a fascinating option for him when he was in his thirties. “I met my future wife, Alison, in Spain. We decided to marry and live in the States. That was when I decided that I could play a role in reviving the honoured tradition of eyewear manufacturing from Italy.”

It was no secret that Italian eyewear had suffered due to the rise in Asian manufacturing. Lamon noticed that the French were promoting their eyewear based on quality and design. He envisioned a revival of the Italian industry and he knew the right people to make it happen.

“The Italian industry had been pretty much controlled by the big companies and some of the amazing artisans responsible for past glories of the industry had become under-employed. Because of our restaurant and longstanding residence in the region, I actually knew the families who specialized in different aspects of making eyewear: one family who worked with the highest quality Italian acetates, another who knew everything about fashioning frames from metals, others who are intimately involved in embellishments with Austrian crystals, a brother-sister team who make cases, and a mother-son team who do leather work.”

Lamon approached these families and put together a small consortium committed to maintaining the high standards that have made Italian eyewear synonymous with quality. By guaranteeing that 100% of the production stay in Italy, Lamon and his consortium began a new brand called Ottica Veneta Eyewear from the Mountains of Italy. “This is a unique approach to making eyewear,” notes Lamon. “Everything is basically from this small town. I don’t think there’s anything else like this in the world.”

The aesthetic for Ottica Veneta is clearly Italian. “We don’t go for weird shapes but strongly believe the eyewear has to be wearable and classically elegant. We like to use interesting colours and embellishments, but always with a sophisticated approach.”

When Lamon introduced his first small collection to eye care professionals in the U.S., he was delighted to learn that Italian-made products were still held in very high esteem. “Many people commented on how beautiful the frames were. And so I was able to build up the collection and awareness of the product. Now, I almost have to tell the artisans to slow down the creativity because it’s hard to keep up with the demand! We’re getting amazing interest in the product around the world, and we know that Canada will be taking off now as well.”

Toronto-based Chantilli Canada, a leader in innovation and quality, represents Ottica Veneta’s Sospiri collection. Marketing director, Grace Pong says, “The Chantilli team loves the Sospiri collection and the authentic Made in Italy heritage of Ottica Veneta. These extraordinary products have proven extremely popular in both European and Asian markets because of their high quality. We’re delighted to be representing Sospiri in Canada.”

Sospiri is a luxury collection, inspired by the artistic and architectural richness of Venice. “When we sit down to design we’re always thinking about Venice, and in fact Sospiri is the name of a famous Venetian landmark, the Bridge of Sighs” explains Lamon. “Our in-house designer, Giansante Zanella, is fantastic. He really understands the technical considerations of eyewear design and can create frames that are very beautiful, while also being practical and comfortable. We’ve been known for comfort since day one so we knew it was essential to keep this front and center with our Sospiri collection.”

The Sospiri collection benefits from the fact that the Ottica Veneta consortium has its own molding equipment. “We don’t have to outsource because we have the machinery that allows us to do a lot of different things in both metals and acetates,” explains Lamon. “This puts us way ahead of most companies and allows us to make the guarantee that every aspect of our frames is Made in Italy. Clearly the optical professionals and the end customers value this. I know because many optical professionals contact us when customers come into their stores asking for our products.”

Both Lamon and Pong see a strong segment of the Canadian public who are looking for high quality designer goods that stand apart from the crowd. “I pay tribute to Canadians, who have less attraction to big designer names and are more drawn to pieces of unique distinction,” says Lamon. “I expect that they will have a love affair with Sospiri.”