EN
Hisight at CHIC Shanghai 2026: Products, Conversations and New Eyewear Projects
A look back at CHIC Shanghai 2026, where the Hisight team met buyers, presented eyewear samples and discussed new OEM and ODM eyewear projects.
CHIC Shanghai 2026 brought together brands, buyers, suppliers and industry professionals from across the fashion and lifestyle market.
For our team, the exhibition was an opportunity to do what matters most in eyewear development: put real products on the table, meet buyers face to face and discuss what they are looking to develop next.
Throughout the show, visitors explored eyewear samples across different frame shapes, materials, colors and finishes. Conversations moved from individual styles to broader collection ideas, customization requirements and future product programs.
The exhibition also gave us another chance to connect the work happening behind the product — design, development, sampling and manufacturing — with the people making sourcing and product decisions in the market.
Arriving at CHIC Shanghai 2026
Held in Shanghai, CHIC is an important meeting point for professionals across fashion, retail and related product categories.
From the entrance of the exhibition center to the activity across the halls, the show created a busy environment for new introductions, product discovery and business discussions.
For Hisight, attending CHIC was not only about displaying eyewear. It was also an opportunity to meet customers and industry contacts in person, understand current sourcing needs and continue conversations around upcoming eyewear collections.
Image here: National Exhibition and Convention Center entrance in Shanghai during CHIC Autumn 2026.
Eyewear Products on Display
A major part of the exhibition experience was, naturally, the product itself.
Visitors were able to look through different eyewear samples and compare frame shapes, proportions, colors, materials and finishing details directly.
Our product range covers multiple eyewear categories, including sunglasses, optical frames, reading glasses, blue light glasses, sports and TR90 eyewear, as well as selected sustainable eyewear programs.
At the show, presenting products physically made these differences much easier to discuss.
A frame that may appear similar in a catalog can feel very different once buyers compare its proportions, material, surface finish, lens combination and construction in person.
This is particularly useful when a buyer is considering several directions for one collection rather than sourcing a single isolated style.
Image here: Sports sunglasses and optical frames arranged on an illuminated display wall at the exhibition booth
From Looking at Frames to Discussing Collections
One of the strongest parts of any trade show happens after a visitor picks up a product.
A conversation that begins with a single frame can quickly move into questions around:
- shape and dimensions
- material and color
- lens options
- logo application
- Components
- Packaging
- Quantity
- target market
- expected timeline
These are also the kinds of specifications that normally shape the early stages of an eyewear development project. Hisight supports customization across frame design, materials, lenses, branding, selected components and packaging depending on project requirements.
At CHIC, many of these discussions happened directly around the samples.
Visitors picked up frames, compared different options and discussed what could be adjusted for their own market or collection direction.
For our team, these conversations are valuable because they make the project more concrete.
Instead of discussing an abstract request, both sides can point to a specific shape, finish, lens or construction detail and begin defining the next step.
Image here: An exhibitor presenting a pair of sunglasses to a visitor during a face-to-face business meeting at the exhibition
OEM and ODM Conversations at the Show
Not every eyewear project starts from the same place.
Some buyers already have a drawing, technical file or reference sample. Others may be looking for an existing design that can be adapted into a private-label collection.
Hisight supports both OEM and ODM eyewear development.
OEM projects can begin from customer drawings, physical reference samples, technical files or a product brief, while ODM projects can start from existing designs, molds or available components.
That difference was also reflected in the kinds of conversations we had during the exhibition.
Some visitors focused on existing styles and asked how colors, lenses, logos or packaging could be adapted.
Others were more interested in developing something new.
In both cases, the discussion eventually comes back to the same question:
How can the initial product direction be turned into a sample that can later be produced consistently at scale?
This is where product development, engineering, sampling and production need to work together rather than operate as separate steps.
Hisight’s wider development system is built around taking projects from early concepts or reference products through sample validation and into commercial production.
Image here: An exhibitor presenting eyewear samples to a visitor during a business meeting at the exhibition
Face-to-Face Product Discussions
Trade shows remain useful because some product decisions are simply easier to make face to face.
Throughout CHIC, much of our time was spent sitting with visitors, looking through samples and discussing details directly.
That may mean comparing several frame shapes.
It may mean looking more closely at a hinge, finish or material.
Or it may mean discussing the wider commercial requirements behind the product — where it will be sold, how it should be positioned and what development route makes the most sense.
Our original content plan for CHIC placed particular emphasis on customer interaction, including buyers looking at products, holding samples, discussing samples and speaking with the team.
Those interactions became some of the most useful moments of the exhibition.
They also created a clearer bridge between what a buyer sees at a trade show and what happens later during actual product development.
Image here: An exhibitor speaking with a visitor while reviewing eyewear samples at the business matching area
What Happens After the Exhibition?
A trade show conversation is usually only the beginning.
After the exhibition, a potential eyewear project may move into:
Project Review
Clarifying the product direction, material, quantity, target market and customization requirements.
Sample Development
Developing or adapting samples for review and refinement.
Sample Approval
Confirming the specifications that will become the production reference.
Bulk Production
Moving the approved design into scalable manufacturing.
Quality Control and Final Inspection
Checking materials, production workmanship and finished eyewear before shipment.
Hisight’s quality control process covers incoming inspection, in-process inspection and final inspection, supported by in-house testing capabilities.
This is one reason exhibitions like CHIC are useful to us: the discussion may begin with a frame on a table, but the real work continues through development, validation and production after everyone leaves the show floor.
Image here: A close-up display of assorted sunglasses in different frame shapes, colors and materials at the exhibition
Connecting Market Conversations Back to Product Development
Trade shows also give product teams direct exposure to the questions buyers are asking.
Which frames do people stop to look at?
Which materials do they ask about?
What kinds of customization matter most?
What details need more explanation?
These observations do not replace structured market research, but they add another useful layer of feedback.
Hisight’s design and development team works across trend research, material selection, structural evaluation, CAD review and sample development, with more than 100 new design directions developed each month.
For us, conversations at CHIC therefore do not end at the exhibition.
They become part of the wider dialogue between the market, product development and manufacturing.
Image here: Exhibitors and overseas visitors posing together after a business meeting at the exhibition
Thank You for Meeting Us in Shanghai
Thank you to everyone who spent time with our team at CHIC Shanghai 2026.
Whether you stopped to look through the eyewear collection, compare samples or discuss a specific project, we appreciate the conversations that took place throughout the show.
For those conversations already underway, our team looks forward to continuing them after Shanghai.
And for buyers planning a new eyewear collection, we are always open to discussing the next project — whether you are starting from an existing design, a reference sample or a new product brief.
Planning Your Next Eyewear Project?
Share your design, reference sample or collection brief with our team.
