As the leaves turned and the clocks turned back, I packed my bags once again for another optical trade fair, this time heading west or is it east, to the Hong Kong International Optical Fair, from 6-8 November 2025. While this was the 32nd edition of the HKIOF, this edition was my first.
4th-floor brands banner at HKIOF 2024Once again I boarded an airplane, crossing the International Date Line and arriving not 15 hours after we took off from LAX, but a whole day later. After a good night’s rest, I met the PR team from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) along with colleagues from around the world for a short walk to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Wan Chai, overlooking the beautiful Victoria Harbour of Hong Kong.
Victoria HarbourThe HKIOF is divided between two floors of this six-story beautiful building that houses almost 1 million square feet of convention space. Multiple other conventions and symposiums were going on over the same three days as this show.
The first floor of the convention was the larger of the two halls that house the HKIOF. This was where most of the OEM and ODM companies exhibited. On this floor, you would find a huge variety of manufacturing companies, mostly from mainland China, but from all over Asia and the world as well. Shenzhen, the infamous optical manufacturing city is just 30 minutes from Hong Kong by train. Frame manufacturers, hinge companies, acetate suppliers, case companies, cloth companies, lens companies, and so on. Here is a video from one of my walkthroughs of the first floor.
On the 4th leval was the VOS (Visionaries of Style) section put on our friends at V Magazine out of Hong Kong. Here were over 200 high-end independent brands from all around the world. There were several brands I had not seen before so this area was a joy for me to explore. I got to spend time with old friends and make new friends as well. Here is a walkthrough of the VOS floor.
The 2024 HKIOF attracted over 13,000 visitors from 94 countries and regions. Like many optical conferences, there was a big push for environmentally friendly and sustainable products. In addition to the in-person trade fair, the HKIOF also holds an online trade portal called Click2Match, where buyers can see all the vendors that were exhibiting and follow up with those vendors after the show as well.
Hong Kong International Trade Fair 2024 cocktail receptionSo many optical shops are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from their neighboring competitors. For many, having their own house brand of eyewear is a great way to do so. From my perspective, the one place that truly gives you the biggest choice of designers and manufacturers to help your shop on that journey is the Hong Kong International Optical Fair.
Hong Kong is a wonderful city to visit and I wish my stay there was a bit longer. The food was great with great restaurants seemingly everywhere. Everyone I met from when I landed to the last minutes before heading home was wonderfully friendly. I never felt unsafe anywhere I walked. The subway system was easy to understand and while the Oyster Card is the preferred method of cashless payment throughout the city, I found plenty of places where my regular credit card was welcome.
the view of Hong Kong from Victoria PeakJoin The Optical Journal next year for the 2025 Hong Kong International Optical Trade Fair, November 5-7, 2025.
