Talk:Silhouette (eyewear)

Neutrality
After having removed several epitheta ornantia I would like to remove the tag. Do you have any objections?--Meister und Margarita (talk) 07:38, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Edit request II
Hello everybody. I revised the last version and hope, now it works. I would like to update the en.wiki article. I choose to use the request edit-procedure, because I have a conflict of interest.
 * ✅ with revisions. I placed the content about screwless and hingeless eyewear in the Products section and the state-awarded recognition in the lead. I added this additional source about Neubau Eyewear to show the initial connection between the brand and company, and I put all relevant information about neubau eyewear in one paragraph. Each event in the History section has been separated by year. Thanks, Heartmusic678 (talk) 13:38, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

Silhouette International Schmied AG is an Austrian company engaged in the design, production and distribution of eyeglass frames and sunglasses. Since 2017, the company also supplies lenses. The headquarters is located in Linz.

History
Silhouette International was founded in 1964 by Anneliese and Arnold Schmied. In 1991 Silhouette started to produce sports eyewear under the licensed brand "adidas eyewear".

In the 1990s, several foreign importers were converted into subsidiaries, so that Silhouette has companies in Italy, the USA, England, Denmark, Germany and Belgium.

In 2000, the company expanded to France as well as Southeast Asia. In addition, founder Arnold Schmied became part of the board of directors and handed over the management of the company to his sons Klaus and Arnold Schmied and Tassilo Gruber. At the same time, ''Silhouette International A. Schmied GmbH. & Co. KG and the former holding company Schmied Beteiligungs AG merged and Silhouette International Schmied AG'' was formed. Since 2000, the screwless and hingeless "Titan Minimal Art" eyewear has been certified for space travel and has been used on more than 35 space missions to date. In 2002, the company expanded to Hong Kong and in the Asian region.

As of 2007, the company's top management consisted only of brothers Klaus and Arnold Schmied. Since 2008, the company has been a state-awarded training company. In the same year, expansion into Eastern Europe and the Near and Middle East began.

In 2009, the licensing agreement with Swarovski, which had existed since 1996, ended.

In 2013, Arnold and Klaus Schmied retired from the operational business to the Management Board, and their board mandates were taken over by Thomas Windischbauer and Daniel Rogger. In 2014, a new subsidiary was founded in South America. In 2016, the brand "Neubau Eyewear" was founded, offering eyeglasses and sunglasses. Since 2017, the company has been a full-range supplier of lenses and frames. Since November 1, 2019, Reinhard Mahr, Christian Ender and Arnold Schmied's son Michael Schmied have been managing the family business alongside Thomas Windischbauer. At the end of 2019, Silhouette International ended its licensing agreement with adidas after 25 years. In October 2019, Silhouette launched the sports eyewear brand "Evil Eye." Since the beginning of 2021, neubau eyewear is operating as an independent company.

Company Structure
The company is still owned by the Schmied family in the 3rd generation. The annual turnover in 2019 was 161 million euros. The company employs 1380 people, 800 of them in Linz. Exports account for 95 percent of sales, and the eyewear is available in more than 100 countries.

The company has offices in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil, China, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, as well as a regional office in Dubai and a second production site in the Czech Republic.

Products
Silhouette manufactures and distributes rimless eyewear, full rim eyewear and sunglasses as well as lenses. For many years, Silhouette was a licensed manufacturer of sports eyewear for Adidas and high-priced models for Daniel Swarowski. In addition to its own brands Silhouette and Neubau Eyewear, Silhouette International has also been designing and producing sports eyewear under the Evil Eye brand since October 2019.

Materials
Silhouette uses high-tech titanium and the patented plastic SPX to manufacture its eyewear. In 1983, Silhouette began producing eyewear from SPX using injection molding technology. Since 2020, neubau eyewear has been using bio-based material in 3D printing technology.

Sustainability
As a Climate Alliance company, Silhouette is a member of Climate Alliance Austria.