March 2025: LOFT NYC & Eyewear Design Week
Summary: With the move of Vision Expo East from New York to Orlando this year, the creators of the LOFT Eyewear show trigger a significant collaboration to create the very first Eyewear Design Week in New York.
Whilst anything new is a leap of faith, Ffin took the decision to be part of this inaugural event supporting Independent brands.
February 2025: MIDO Milan.
Summary: If home is where the heart is, then MIDO is our home! MIDO 2025 marks just one year since the international launch of Ffin!
Anna and Niall find themselves back at the MIDO Academy. It’s the first show where we know the layout and start to feel part of the independent eyewear community. We have opportunity to meet existing clients and new exciting customers from all over the world.
It is an exciting show, we were nominated for an award, added 3 new countries to our client list and added a record number of new accounts.
January 2025: OPTI Munich
Summary: OPTI Munich is the 3rd largest eyewear show in Europe and usually the first major optical event of the spring show season.
Set in the iconic city of Munich, OPTI is a vast show attracting visitors from all over the world. This was the first showing for Ffin at OPTI, something we hope to repeat in future years.
We met many enthusiastic people, including Christian Metzler, a well known collector who was kind enough to say: “I think I am looking at my future vintage collection!”
October 2024: NEOS in Washington DC
Summary: NEOS is a US independent eyewear show that is growing in popularity.
The trip from Wales to the US is a long one and in order to take advantage of already being in the US, Ffin decided to add the NEOS event to the itinerary following LOFT SF.
NEOS has 2 shows a year and the Autumn event is a one day show held in the iconic Union Market District of Washington DC. NEOS only started in 2022 through the shared inspiration of Jessica and Joanna, who are the powerhouse behind getting this event off the ground. Their mission is to encourage independent opticians to work with independent brands to take back control of their businesses from the influence of the big corporates.
It is a worthy mission statement and having met this inspirational duo, it is a show that Ffin hopes to support long into the future.
October 2024: LOFT San Francisco
Summary: The LOFT eyewear show has long been a champion of Independent eyewear brands in the US with a major Spring show in NYC and a smaller more intimate autumn show in San Francisco. Encouraged by the interest and enthusiasm of our US clients we decided we would make this event our first US show!
LOFT SF is located in the Fort Mason centre in the San Francisco Bay area. The show likes to keep things minimalist, with small display areas and an informal vibe, the show encourages brands and their customers to kick back with a cold drink and discuss the collection available.
September 2024: Ffin Debut at SILMO Paris
Summary: With great trepidation Ffin make their first appearance at the biggest eyewear show in the world, SILMO in Paris.
SILMO has long held the mantle of the largest eyewear show in the world and it is vast! Internally we had discussed at length if we were ready for to present at such a prestigious event, especially as there isn’t a dedicated area like the Academy at MIDO in Milan. We went for it and it was an amazing experience!
September 2024: Bold XXL Optical Fair in the Netherlands
Summary: The earliest of the Autumn optical industry shows is BOLD in Den Bosch in the Netherlands. The regional shows are growing in popularity and this show is conveniently located for people to attend from the Netherlands, Belgium & Germany.
This show enabled Ffin to meet new clients who might have otherwise have missed us at the larger international shows and we met some serious eyewear enthusiasts!
In this part of the world the history of design is celebrated and part of the cultural DNA. We took advantage of our trip to visit the design museums locally in Den Bosch and as we passed Gent in Belgium, so Anna could top up on her design inspiration.
September 2024: Ffin Ethical & Environmental Credentials
Summary: Ffin are delighted to have formalised our core environmental and ethical values by making a pledge via the Welsh government.
Business Wales is a team at the Welsh government who provide expert support to businesses in the region. Ffin have been working closely with their advisor Anthony the last few weeks. He has really worked hard to give us practical and valuable consultancy on a range of topics.
During this process we were delighted to hear that we could formalise our ethical and environmental values via the Welsh government with support from Anthony. We are really pleased to see this forward thinking approach being implemented in Wales.
July 2024: Ffin featured in the Amazing Eyewear Book Vol. 2
Summary: Anna is approached by renowned eyewear journalist Maarten Weidema, to feature in his next edition of the Amazing Eyewear book.
Author Maarten Weidema is the founder of The Eyewear Forum Magazine (TEF) and an expert champion of independent brands, on a mission to “save the world from mediocre eyewear.” He now also produces the Amazing Eyewear book, dubbed The Holy Grail of Eyewear Design and found on the coffee tables of eyewear enthusiasts around the world.
Maarten first met Anna at the Love Eyewear Awards, where he noted Anna as one to watch. Since then he has monitored the progress of Ffin Eyewear, enthusiastic about our progression and offering invaluable snippets of advice on how to get established. This is what Anna had to say: “I was genuinely shocked and delighted when Maarten invited Ffin to feature in the Amazing Eyewear book. I was really overwhelmed, we had worked so hard to expand our range so Ffin could be taken seriously by the industry and then Maarten deemed us worthy of a feature. It was a heady mixture of excitement, relief and awe.”
May 2024: "Taking the Industry by Storm."
Summary: We receive an email from a new client that we had visited earlier that day. Accompanied with a photo of the page open on the desk is the message “I have just seen this article in the latest Optician Magazine!! Well Done.”
Optician Magazine’s Zoe Crosby has decided to start a series celebrating British female talent in the eyewear industry, by interviewing Anna about her epic arrival on the designer eyewear scene [link here].
February 2024: International Launch at MIDO, Milan
Summary: Early advice from industry experts was that Ffin’s designer eyewear would find popularity in the European market, so after months of planning, Ffin pivot their strategy in that direction and head to the coolest industry show in the world, MIDO, based in the iconic Italian capital of style, Milan.
Nerves about the international launch are somewhat settled when following a review by a MIDO panel, Ffin is invited to take a stall in the MIDO Lab Academy, allowing us to bypass the usual time served in the Start-up area. Nerves are replaced by awe, as Ffin find themselves exhibiting alongside their design heroes. In good company, Ffin launch their new range and start connecting with boutique opticians and eyewear stylists around the globe.
Anna’s designs catch the eye of the editors at MIDO TV and they decide to invite her to interview. A very nervous Anna agrees…
November 2023: "Designed with Individuality in Mind."
Summary: Kimberly Young at Optometry Today [link here] interviews Anna about her approach to design, how she feels about the Love Eyewear Awards and the challenges for Ffin Eyewear as a new brand.
September 2023: London Fashion Week SS24.
Summary: Just a few months after soft launch at 100% Optical in the UK, Ffin are invited to London Fashion Week.
‘Ping’ goes Facebook messenger and it is a message about collaborating at London Fashion Week.
A month later and as part of a wider collaboration, the designer frames are doing a turn on the catwalk, complementing Jayne Pierson’s new collection.
70’s rock legend Siouxsie Sioux, of Siouxsie and the Banshees, modelled our ORA sunglasses on the catwalk and refused to return them because she “loves them too much and must have them!”
September 2023: Front Cover Lazin Magazine
Summary: For those in the know, Lazin is monitoring all things on trend. They approach Ffin Eyewear to borrow some eyewear for a shoot and decide to write about “Anna’s Design Adventure” in addition to using the images as their front page feature.
Find out more at Lazin Magazine [link here]
August 2023: Niall & Anna Agree a Business Partnership
Summary: No press release here but a fairly big step in securing the future of Ffin Eyewear.
Niall & Anna meet to discuss a partnership in Brighton and deal done they decide to get some corporate head shots that reflect they way they mean to go on!
Celebrations included fish and chips on the beach and an ice-cream.
Feb 2023: Ffin Eyewear win 2 Love Eyewear Awards at show debut in London.
Summary: With support from an awesome group of friends, Anna Lewis steps onto the UK eyewear scene and causes a stir by winning 2 Love Eyewear Awards for Ffin at the debut show. She is awarded Best New Designer and also scoops Best Men’s Sunglasses, in the latter category she takes the award despite being shortlisted against industry giants such as Eyewear by David Beckham, J.F.Rey and Morel with their 140 year history.
The Luxury Eyewear Forum [link here] celebrate the Love Eyewear coverage, featuring an ecstatic Anna receiving her award.
Jan 2023: Ffin shortlisted in 3 categories at the Love Eyewear Awards
Summary: Anna Lewis prepares for the soft launch of the Ffin brand at the 100% Optical industry show in London. Ahead of the show, Ffin are shortlisted in 3 categories at the Love Eyewear Awards.
Industry magazine Optometry Today announce the Love Eyewear Awards shortlist [link here], leading with an Image of the NOS frames from Ffin Eyewear. Ffin are shortlisted in the Best New Designer, Best Men’s Sunglasses and Best Women’s Sunglasses categories.
