DaTE: Avant-garde event under new management

Davide Degl’Incerti Tocci, current Vice President of ANFAO and responsible for Gruppo Giovani, digitalization and internationalization as well as CEO of Nannini Italian Quality, is the new President of DaTE. After a break this year, the next avant-garde eyewear fair will take place from September 13 to 15, 2025.

“I thank the President of ANFAO and MIDO, Lorraine Berton, for this appointment and for her trust in giving me the opportunity to modernize a trade fair that is so important for the Italian market,” said the new President Degl’Incerti Tocci. “I accepted the DaTE presidency with enthusiasm and will invest the same spirit in my work with the team, which is already actively focused on 2025.”

“Key concepts such as avant-garde, creativity, boldness, cross-fertilization, inspiration, originality and research – which have enabled DaTE to succeed on the national stage in a clearly defined niche – will be our mainstays,” the president continued.

‘But for the next edition, new ideas and concepts will be reflected in all aspects of the event – the venue, the format and the important business opportunities that will be expanded based on market needs. DaTE is truly a unique opportunity for the entire eyewear system: for exhibitors, who will find fertile ground for their ambitions and experimentation, and for visitors – especially Italian opticians, who will discover ways to diversify their product lines, all in an atmosphere rich in valuable insights,’ he concluded.

DaTE takes a break in 2024

In June 2024, the organisers of DaTE decided in Milan to cancel the trade fair planned for 7 and 8 September 2024 at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence ‘after careful consideration’.

‘The decision was made with great care and should be seen as an important opportunity to revamp an event that has become a fixture in the eyewear industry,’ explain the organisers. ‘We are of course disappointed, but we are already working on the next event to offer a new edition in 2025.’

Due to ‘contractually fixed, non-negotiable dates that are unfavourable for some of the event’s target companies’, the event has been postponed to 2025, according to the reason given in the summer.

‘We see this interruption as an opportunity to improve the feedback from the companies that wanted to participate in this edition. Always with the aim of meeting the needs of exhibitors and visitors in the best possible way, we want to present a format with new dates, a new location and a new exhibition formula,’ the organisers conclude.