The first Italian eyewear company to measure the impacts of its glasses demonstrates through numbers that Made in Italy is better. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) quantifies the CO2 emissions

Manufacturing in Italy pays off, not only for the superior quality of the eyewear but also for the environmental sustainability of the products. This is proven by the numbers VANNI obtained through the Life Cycle Assessment of cellulose acetate eyeglasses, representative of VANNI’s collection designs.

The study, commissioned to the University of Bicocca in Milan, in collaboration with Liito, highlighted unequivocal figures: the CO2 impact (a principal cause of climate change) of the V1632 model is 2.35 KG, a weight below the industry reference values, achieved thanks to the use of Italian raw materials and the decision to produce everything domestically.

The same eyeglasses, if produced in Asia, would have generated 4.45 kg of CO2, approximately 89% more emissions, due to the high environmental impact of intercontinental transportation.

In addition to this assessment, there is the incalculable “social impact,” which relates to the working conditions of workers in factories far from our sight, where it’s impossible to verify the standards of protection and decent work.

Unlike many fashion and accessory brands that assess the impact of their “green” products, specific to limited production capsule collections, the results of the LCA study of VANNI’s products were calculated based on a representative eyewear model of the entire acetate eyewear production. The VANNI collection includes other models, different from the sample taken but comparable in the production process and materials used.

This data is highlighted in the second impact report that VANNI has published, documenting the results achieved in 2023 on environmental and social sustainability topics, filed with the Chamber of Commerce and available on the vanniocchiali.com website. This document is mandatory by law, but for VANNI, it’s truly an opportunity to focus on where it has come and where it is going.

“Made in Italy, for sure is our signature. We have always maintained that producing in Italy is a choice that makes a difference, and today we wanted to demonstrate – also in numerical and analytical terms – that it is the right choice for our environment, which we must seriously take care of, to preserve it and pass it on to future generations.

We value the Italian culture of the sector and demonstrate that reducing product transportation and harmful emissions to the environment – by rewarding the territory – decreases our footprint on nature. At VANNI, we make every phase of manufacturing transparent. In a period of growing claims on sustainability issues, we are keen to show where and how our glasses are born.

The positive data on our CO2 emissions is not an endpoint but a starting point, because we can improve it, finally knowing where to act. This is our commitment for the years to come, as we emphasized in our recently published report”, say Giovanni Vitaloni and Alessandra Girardi, owners of the company.

VANNI, the Turin-based design eyewear company founded in 1987, with distribution in over 50 countries worldwide, and 100% Made in Italy, has been a Benefit Corporation since 2021, the first in Italy in the sector. For the company, this choice means setting evaluation and measurement standards regarding the commitment to people, the planet, the territory, and the creation of shared wealth. The report monitors all the effects generated by its activities in every field, an accurate and measured radiography.