Italiano 
The Italian eyewear production chain is a source of great pride for the Italian business world. This tradition of excellence, whose origins go back as far as 1878, continues to set new standards, bringing to market products that are a benchmark for the industry.
We retraced the beginnings of this great tradition with Giovanni Susti, editor of four magazines – L’Ottico, Spex!, Optikey and Eyecom – each focussing on one of the many aspects of the sector.
Inventing solutions
«The first eyewear factory, Angelo Frescura & C., opened in Calalzo di Cadore in 1878» Giovanni tells us. “At the time, there was no electricity; businesses worked by the light of oil lamps and the power to drive machinery was generated by water: in those days, every company had their own watermill which produced the energy needed to drive their machinery and, later on, a dynamo which generated electricity.»
Eyewear factory in Le Piazze founded by Angelo Frescura of Rizzios, late 1800s.
The abundance of mountain streams with their constant supply of water is probably what prompted others to set up eyewear factories in the area. But they would never have been successful had it not been for the spirit of initiative and skills of these very special people, pioneers in the true sense of the word.
«The first eyewear factory was run by three partners: the founder and owner, Angelo Frescura, Giovanni Lozza, a gifted machinery inventor, and Leone Frescura, Angelo’s brother, who was in charge of production. They were all prominent figures. And highly resourceful, using what little they had to come up with the solutions they needed.»
«Nowadays you’d have to be mad to embark on a venture like this, given the current state of the market, but in 1878 it meant you had no electricity, no machinery so you had to invent it all, and all your raw materials and parts had to be imported from abroad.»
«The only thing they had was water power, so they set up in an old corn mill and the rest is history». This was the start of the eyewear industry in Italy, an epic beginning that paved the way for other companies which gradually settled in the area. «They were pioneers in their day.»
The Frescura brothers. From left to right, Giuseppe and Leone (back), Giovanni Antonio and Angelo (front).
«At the time, there had been eyewear manufacturers in France and Germany for almost 100 years. At first, Angelo Frescura & C. imported frames, made for the most part out of wire, and lenses, which had to be milled along the edge for them to stay in the wire. Giovanni Lozza invented a machine that cut a kind of groove along the side of the lens, so they could assemble the glasses.»
The business grows
«There were already shops in those days but it wasn’t like today, where you drop your prescription off at the optician who then prepares your glasses to your personal specification; they used to produce glasses with lenses of different strengths already mounted in the frame and so if you needed glasses, you just went to the shop and tried lots of them on until you found a pair that helped you see better. It was a bit like the non-prescription glasses we can find today.»
«Then, a bit at a time, shops began offering rudimentary eye tests to work out the kind of lenses a person needed. This is how the eyewear sector began in Italy.»
Giovanni Lozza, a key figure in the first Italian eyewear factory and the history of the industry.
The Lozza brand was founded in 1920 and was the first large company in the sector, gradually building up a workforce of hundreds. This important business taught the trade to many people who then, thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit that was common throughout the area, took this knowledge and used it to open their own businesses, specialising in a stage of the production process.
It led to the establishment of the many specialised companies we have today and is still the secret to the success of production areas throughout Italy, with their highly specialised micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. By the mid-Nineties, Italian eyewear production was at its peak: «in those years, Italy was the largest eyewear manufacturer in the world».
Deep roots
As the global market grew, so did the challenges that the big names in the industry faced: «The companies that have survived today have done so thanks to their tradition and stubbornness. They have successfully overcome the many challenges and setbacks in their way. They are often family-run businesses, where the parents have passed on their passion and expertise to their children. This is the case with D.F., which was founded by Lara and Sergio’s father, and is still a leader in its field, a benchmark for anyone who needs metal components».
Metal wire processing in one of the first eyewear factories in Italy.
The stories of eyewear manufacturers are often left untold, as is their tradition of excellence. Giovanni Susti believes we should share these stories with opticians, as they are the final link in the chain, the ones who present the products to the public and are therefore in a position to communicate the qualities of a pair of glasses to them.
Sharing this belief has become Giovanni’s mission, which he carries out firstly by publishing trade magazines. He also takes part in trade fairs around the world and organises other events, like the annual meeting dedicated to the eyewear production chain which is in its eleventh year and was held once again in the spectacular location of Castelbrando: «Why is information so important?» asks Giovanni. «So opticians and all the other stakeholders in the production chain are aware of the products they are dealing with».
