Look back at 2023

Another year with IOLLA - 2023 in Review

We can’t quite believe 2024 is just around the corner, so we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on the spectacular year it’s been for us. We’ve delved into our archives from this year and compiled some highlights we’re excited to share with you. To our customers, both new and old - a heartfelt thank you for your unwavering support for yet another year!

EVENTS

We kicked off the summer with a series of celebrations across our showrooms! We marked our 8th Birthday with a party on West George Street, featuring DJ @ciarmckinley and an exclusive first look access to our latest frames. Our Manchester Showroom also celebrated its first birthday, with a special shoutout to our hardworking team for their effort throughout this year.

We also hosted a Barbie event at the @scotsmanpicturehouse complete with personalised glasses cases with @toastytype and film viewing of the iconic movie. Later in the year, we attended St James Quarter's fashion event, Edinburgh Style. IOLLA frames featured on the runways and we hosted a live makeup event as part of the weekend’s events.

Our St James Quarter showroom hosted a pop-up with earring brand @earsass. Sophie and Jas, behind the brand, joined us in-store for a day of styling with our customers. A very successful final event of the year for IOLLA.

Showrooms

It was our West George Street Showroom that embraced change this year. In October, we launched our new Build your Eyewear Concept in store. Encouraging customers to see eyewear as an accessory, a pair for work, rest and play - we want your glasses to be another expression of you. This showroom design featured our very own IOLLA wardrobe filled with clothes from our friends at Finnieston Clothing and of course stocked full of IOLLA’s.

We also celebrated Black Friday with our in-store Spin to Win. Every one of our Black Friday Shoppers were in with the chance of winning from our wheel of prizes. From in store discounts on their order placed to prizes from some friends at IOLLA namely: Civerinos, Vieve, Dear Green and Earsass.

Products

We’ve welcomed an array of new frames and products to our mix this year at IOLLA.

The Frosted Collection kicked off the year with fresh acetate colours, setting the tone for subsequent launches. Our Eco initiative introduced the Douglas frame, featuring new Eco acetates in Butter Tortoise and Crystal Fade. We expanded the Matte Ocean Tortoise colour option into cult favourites Stewart and Capaldi.

This summer, we proudly presented our first non-prescription capsule collection – Orange by IOLLA. Bold glamour injected some new shapes as well as coloured lenses to the IOLLA lineage. Vintage-inspired frames Rae, Parker, and Elliot rounded off the year, marrying classic styles with a contemporary edge.

We kick-started our Eco Initiative, inviting our customers on our mission to reduce our environmental footprint. We installed recycling points for our customers to drop off frames for recycling with all brands welcome and our very first lens cleaner which is 100% natural and free refills in any of our stores! To celebrate we hosted two events across our showrooms to encourage our customers to look out their old frames and recycle with us!

We’ve been releasing more frames in our Eco Acetates which are biodegradable, making sustainability accessible to the necessary products in your life like glasses. We’re on a journey to increase the number of Eco Acetates in our range.

Press and Collaborations

Featured in both Cosmopolitan and Grazia, November was a thrilling month for us as our frames featured in print edits.

Championing Collaboration remained a key value for us in 2023. We collaborated with a number of brands on giveaways on our social media - The Famous Grouse, Finnieston Clothing, Essence of Harris. In addition, and we featured as a prize in Vieve’s Scratch&Win during their Glasgow Pop-Up.

As we reflect on this amazing year, we extend our gratitude to our customers for making it all possible. Your support has been our driving force, and we're truly grateful for each and every one of you. Here's to more exciting moments, new frames, and shared experiences in the years to come.

Thank you for being a part of the IOLLA journey!