At a time when markets and production chains are constantly shifting, the eyewear industry is also called upon to rethink its positioning through a more strategic lens.
For this reason, MIDO 2026 opens the debate on the major forces reshaping the international landscape: economy, geopolitics and the future become concrete tools to interpret risks, opportunities and new directions for growth. This approach acknowledges a simple truth: today, competitiveness is not determined by the product alone, but also by the ability to understand the context in which that product must succeed.
At the centre of today’s session, moderated by Simone Lijoi, was a dialogue between journalist and TV host Monica Maggioni and Alec Ross, author and Professor at Bologna Business School, who offered an in-depth reading of the global dynamics redefining balances, markets and production chains. Their discussion provided valuable insight into what it means to do business today amid geopolitical instability, economic transformation and new supply chain tensions—in a world where every shift has a direct impact on exports, industrial strategies and market choices.
The debate addressed a very concrete question, closely relevant to the eyewear industry as well: how do you remain competitive when the rules of trade, power dynamics and production routes are changing? Between evolving international scenarios and increasingly rapid economic transformations, the session offered useful tools to interpret the present without simplification, providing insights to guide decisions and vision more consciously. In closing, a key question summed it all up: what perspective should we take home to navigate more clearly in such a fast-moving world? The answer left a clear message: today, innovation does not only mean creating better products, but also understanding the environment in which those products will have to live, circulate and compete.