O-SHOW26: Crowds, Innovation, and Business

The Numbers 

Final figures confirm O-SHOW26 as one of the best-attended editions of the show to date. A total of 1,192 unique visitors came through the doors, with day one drawing 1,009 unique visitors and day two a further 183 – though with 161 people returning for a second day, total visits on day two rose to 344. That takes total visits to the trade fair to at least 1,353. Add the 423-strong supplier and industry contingent, and total industry attendance for the event reached 1,615. 

Victoria dominated the visitor map, accounting for close to 65% of attendance, followed by New South Wales on 15%, Queensland on 7%, and Western Australia on 4%. 

Perhaps most notable was the calibre of buyer on the floor. Organisers reported a significant lift in corporate buyer attendance this year, a result they credit in part to an expanded fashion focus, with close to 40 fashion-related exhibitors and brands represented. By role, nearly 30% of attendees identified as owners or owner-optometrists, 19% as optometrists, and dispensers and practice managers/team members each accounted for 16%. 

Exhibitors Reflect On A Strong Show 

Beyond the statistics, mivision caught up with exhibitors on the floor to hear how the show had landed for their businesses. 

Otis Eyewear’s Nathan Omodei said the atmosphere across both days had been buoyant, with a steady flow of existing and new accounts through the stand. “There was good energy, good appointments, good people coming through. We were pretty steady all day,” he said. “It was good for us because we’ve just launched some new ranges, so there was newness to show” – including six new optical frame styles aimed at the 18–25 demographic and a couple of new acetate aviators. 

Otis also used the show to spotlight its B Corp recertification. “Not many eyewear brands in the world are B Corp certified, and it’s not easy to get the certification,” Mr Omodei said. Originally certified in 2022, the company has just re-certified for a further three years, improving its score in the process. “It’s not just what we do with product, it’s the way we treat suppliers and customers,” he said, pointing to mineral glass lenses across the sunglass range, a shift towards plastic-free packaging, and staff volunteering programs as part of the certification’s broader remit. 

At the EssilorLuxottica stand, Belinda Hannan said reaction to the latest Meta AI eyewear had been overwhelmingly positive with buyers particularly impressed by a new offering that enables them to purchase sample collections to showcase in practice, then order complete frame and prescription lens packages direct from Essilor. “People really like the idea of having a low-cost barrier to entry,” she said. “It’s one of those new technologies and new products where you don’t want to invest too much, but you want an easy way to have a conversation [about the product] in your practice.” Ms Hannan, a 25-year O-SHOW veteran, said the best part of the show remained watching practitioners experience EssilorLuxottica’s technology first-hand. “I really like seeing people’s reaction when they can actually hear AI talking to them and see how it would fit into their lives and help their patients. They get really excited by it – it makes me excited too.” 

Asia Contacts 1’s Ryan Ho was on hand to demonstrate the latest generation of the Lipo myopia-management wearable. “It’s gone from gen one to gen two to gen three in just two years,” he said adding that the latest offering tracks how long a child wears their myopia frame each day, time spent outdoors versus indoors, ambient light exposure, head tilt, and reading posture. This data, Mr Ho said, helps practitioners intervene “before myopia creeps up”, given that once it progresses, it’s irreversible. Practitioners who had only heard about the technology from colleagues who had travelled internationally were now seeing it in person. “They are amazed,” said Mr Ho, adding that O-SHOW remains “the best Australian exhibition for optical” thanks to its intimate scale and quality of customer time. 

Australian design was a recurring theme on the floor. Representatives from Frank & Fritz and VAANYARD, exhibiting side by side, described the show as a pleasant surprise commercially as well as socially. “We’re really happy with it: the exposure we’ve got here, and the nice collegiate feeling – it’s been a very pleasant surprise and a very enjoyable experience,” said Paul Gilligan, co-founder of VAANYARD. “Being here has generated genuine new business and partnerships.”  

 

Susan Tobiassen from Frank and Fritz added that support from the O-SHOW team for Australian design had been a highlight: “I love the fact that they’re really getting behind Australian design and artwork.” They noted that seeing frames handled in person, rather than online, tends to change minds: “When people actually touch the product, you get the depth of character we’ve built in. You can almost see that ‘oh wow’ moment.” 

 

 

AM Eyewear’s Simon Ponnusamy said the show’s smaller, more intimate booth format continued to work well for the brand, and revealed a new approach trialled this year: teaming up with Frank & Fritz and VAANYARD to create a dedicated area for independent, Australian-made eyewear. “We just made a dedicated area that any practices that want Australian brands can come to,” he said, adding the idea was to avoid confusion between genuine Australian brands and distributors of international lines. “At the end of the day, that’s what patients want – they want Australian brands.” 

For OphthalmoPro’s Tristan Parker, the standout of the show was the ‘eye spa’ experience run offered the stand, which bundled together lid cleansing, dry eye drops, intense pulsed light (IPL) and low level light therapy treatments, and eye-friendly make up. “It’s not only a way that we can showcase products on our booth, it’s also a really good way that we can demonstrate how we can come into their practices and help set up an eye spa experience for their patients,” he said, noting it had resonated strongly with visiting customers. 

For Optopol’s John Larkin, O-SHOW marked his first outing under the new company banner, and he said the value of face-to-face exposure had been clear. “As much as you publicise on LinkedIn and call people, it’s only when you attend these events that people go, ‘ah, yeah, it’s you guys, you’re here’,” he said, noting the team had gone to considerable effort with the stand, importing tables from Poland to make sure the presentation looked the part. 

The standout for Optopol was interest in the company’s dry eye device. “The interest in dry eye has been phenomenal,” said Mr Larkin, pointing to growing buzz around low-level light therapy (LLLT) amid strong competition in the IPL space. He said the device’s appeal partly comes down to its pricing model: unlike competitor systems that charge a per-treatment click fee, Optopol’s device is sold outright with unlimited treatments included. With the International Cornea and Contact Lens Society Conference in Tasmania and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists Congress in Auckland both on the calendar before year’s end, Mr Larkin said the O-SHOW appearance had been a solid way to build momentum after launching the business in March. 

Elsewhere, Philip Sporke from MD Eyecare said the show delivered a genuine mix of relationship-building and new business, describing O-SHOW as a valuable, if hard-to-measure, investment for a small company. “It’s critical to do it to get conversions, because we don’t get time to go store by store – it’s a good way to see lots of people,” he said. Mr Sporke used his time on the floor to remind practitioners of the scale of the opportunity in front of them: roughly 10% of the population over 50 has intermittent drusen, he said, underlining the importance of optometrists identifying and referring these patients for quality eye health supplements. “This is a real educational opportunity,” he said. 

Looking to 2027 

O-SHOW was brought to life this year with regular runway shows highlighting exhibitor frames. Complementing activity on the exhibition floor was a half day Myopia Masterclass and a dedicated Women in Optics event. 

With strong attendance, a lift in corporate and fashion-focused buyers, and exhibitors already flagging ideas for 2027 – from expanded Australian design precincts to more ambitious activations – O-SHOW hosts, the Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association (ODMA) has set a high bar for its next industry gathering. As one exhibitor summed it up: “This has been a very pleasant experience for us.”