[bc]SAFILO INAUGURATES ITS NEW PARIS SHOWROOM[/bc]
Paris, September 23, 2002 – “Fashion has a new address”, read the invitation to the opening of Safilo's new showroom at 142 Champs Elysées, an address that will undoubtedly soon become an important point of reference for fashion, luxury and sports eyewear.

Scenic intuition, compositional clarity and versatility are the principal characteristics underlying the design of Safilo's new showroom, based on lightness, flexibility, luminosity and transparency, concepts inspired by the eyewear itself.
The way that the showroom has been fitted out, with modular structures and equipped walls, provides total freedom of use and creates spaces that are inspiring and practical at the same time, thanks to the materials and colors used: crystal glass, white, coloured glass, satiny steel and various layers of transparent, silvery resin for the floor.

Each color and complement has been designed to enhance the display of the many prestigious eyewear collections, including sunglasses and sports eyewear, produced and distributed by the Safilo Group under its own brand names Safilo, Smith, Carrera, Blue Bay, Oxydo and under license with labels such as Gucci, Polo Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, Diesel, Valentino, Oliver by Valentino, Max Mara, Pierre Cardin, Burberry, Yves Saint Laurent and, for the American market, Fossil, Nine West, Kate Spade and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Vittorio Tabacchi, chairman of the Safilo Group, personally inaugurated the new Paris showroom and declared: “This space, which is a complete novelty for our sector, integrates the first sales office of Safilo France, just outside Paris, and is the Group's second showroom after the one opened a few years ago in New York's Fifth Avenue. These will soon be followed by similar showrooms in Europe's main cities. The decision to start this "season of inaugurations" in Paris was essentially due to the close relationship between the city and the fashion industry, and the equally close and increasingly important link between eyewear and fashion. Our decision was undoubtedly affected also by the important and constantly rising trend in Safilo's sales in France, a country that is providing us with a great deal of satisfaction because of this, as well as being a country that is particularly sensitive to the fashion designs that we propose."

The trend in sales by the Safilo Group is positive not only in France, where first-half sales by Safilo France are up by 13% compared with a year ago, but also in all of the other countries where we operate: this is confirmed by the excellent results achieved in the first half of 2002, with consolidated net sales reaching 510.4 million euro (+5%). Income from operations amounted to 87.4 million euro, up 10% on the same period last year. Net income pertaining to the Group, which last year came to 41.1 million euro, this year has reached 48.5 million euro, an increase of 18%.

From Safilo's prestigious showroom on Avenue des Champs Elysées, an obvious cross reference is to the next edition of Silmo, the Paris Eyewear Fair due to take place this year on 25-28 October, with the Safilo Group yet again assuming its role as one of the main players in the world-wide eyewear industry.