Optist Optik Ürünler
Functional Design
“We think that Silmo Istanbul is a very effective organization in terms of contributing to the export of local brands to nearby markets, as well as promoting the brands/products of companies like us that do not have a large sales team, and establishing a network.”
Hello Mr. Cenk Padel, first of all, thank you for agreeing to an interview with us. You have been working in this sector for many years. Could you tell us your story of entry into the sector? How did you decide to establish Optist Optik Ürünler? Shortly after graduating from university, I started my professional business life in Luxottica Istanbul sales team. After working there for nine years, I realized that corporate life was not very suitable for my temperament and decided to start my own business. With the experience I have gained over the years, I established my own company under the name Optist in November 2011 and I continue my journey in the sector.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Slastik’s patented technical features and technology in product sales? Slastik’s functional design allows the consumer to carry the glasses around their neck without losing them when the product is not in use. The fact that the consumer can put on the glasses with a single click when they want to use them is among the reasons why they prefer Slastik designs. This provides a great advantage for us in our sales. The use of bio-based materials, that is, the use of renewable materials in production, also offers us an advantage in our sales. On the other hand, in previous years, there were too many imitation products of local and Chinese production in the market. Unfortunately, this situation caused infringement of Slastik’s patented technical features by copying them and created a disadvantage in terms of sales. Thanks to the legal struggle of the brand owner against patent infringement of utility invention for years, including very large manufacturers in China, this situation started to turn in Slastik’s favor and provided a new situation such as being unrivaled in the sector in recent years. Slastik’s technical features ensure that it has no competitor in the world; however, it is the product’s patent of useful invention and the ongoing R&D studies required for this patent that ensure this. Due to R&D studies, product costs are higher than other glasses, which makes it difficult for the product to appeal to a wide range of consumers in Turkey in terms of price. Another disadvantage was that the other brand in the market in the early years of Slastik was only reading glasses. This situation caused Slastik to be perceived as only reading glasses during the development and spread of Slastik. However, Slastik has not only near but also distance glasses models. Although the sales graph of these products is at a considerable level, most opticians show resistance in this regard and this is a disadvantage.
Could you tell us about the properties of the materials used in the production of Slastik brand and the technology of production?
Slastik is one of the visionary companies that attaches special importance to the issue of sustainability, which has become a trend in many sectors, and acts proactively in this regard and takes action in advance. It has been considering this issue for years while conducting R&D studies based on continuous development. First, it started to produce environmentally friendly products by using Rilsan® Clear G850, a plant-based material that we call bio-based in the production of glasses. This material not only provides high performance with a highly flexible structure for the product, but also allows for a lower carbon footprint. For some time now, the brand has also been developing its eco-friendly credentials by using recycled materials in the production of all ancillary materials, including eyeglass cases and eyeglass storage pochettes.
Let’s talk about the new designs of Slastik eyewear. Is it difficult to implement different designs in your collections produced with a special technology and technique?
Since the collections are designed in Spain, even though we are not involved in the design process, there are periods when we exchange ideas with the brand owner in terms of design. In general, it is not difficult to implement different designs, but the brand focuses on more timeless designs. Even if new models are added to the collection, the brand does not aim to create a new collection every year. Instead, it prefers to constantly improve the color range of the models.
A few years ago, the Slastik brand filed a lawsuit against some manufacturers and dealers in Turkey for producing and selling imitations. Could you tell us about the role you played in this process and how is the case going on?
Actually, we do not have a role in this process. As I mentioned before, the brand owner has been filing lawsuits against manufacturers and dealers who violate Slastik patents in many countries around the world, including the largest manufacturer of imitation glasses in China. Contrary to popular belief, the first lawsuits in Turkey were actually filed in 2014-2015 and resulted in favor of Slastik. The reason for the increased awareness of this issue in the sector in recent years is that the brand owner has contracted with a new law firm that specializes in patent rights. As far as we know, this new law firm acted very quickly as soon as they received the trademark owner’s power of attorney, investigated the sellers and manufacturers of imitation products and initiated the processes within the scope of the law. As I said, we had no involvement in this process, but we did our best to inform the parties involved through all possible channels. We know that lawsuits have been filed against some opticianry establishments that sell imitation products and the lawsuits are ongoing.
We know that you have created your own brand as Optist Optik Ürünler. How is your journey with Blue-Coral going? What is your inspiration for the designs? Do you produce the brand in Turkey?
Creating our own brand has been a dream of mine for a long time and we finally started production this year. Our products are made of acetate material in Italy. When we created the first collection of our brand, we preferred the middle and upper segment reading glasses product type, which we thought was open in the sector. When we chose the name BlueCoral, which means Mavi Mercan in Turkish, we emphasized the marine theme. In our collection, which we started with four models, we determined the model names by considering the marine theme. Although we started with four models, we kept the color scale quite wide. From now on, we will continue to invest in our own brand. We are at the stage of presenting our products to the market and our next step will be to diversify our collection with new designs.
As a company that has been exhibiting in Silmo Istanbul Optical Fair for many years, what are your thoughts about the fair? How would you interpret the contributions of Silmo Istanbul to you and the sector?
Since we do not have a large sales team, it is very important for us to show our presence in fairs. Instead of the cost of establishing a sales team, we prefer to invest in our online dealer portal within the scope of modern shopping trends and reach opticians across Turkey and introduce our brands at Silmo Istanbul Optical Fair. In this way, we try to pull back our sales prices that we offer to our dealers. As Optist Optik Ürünler, we are very happy to take part in Silmo Istanbul Optical Fair since the beginning. We think that your energy, problem solving and positive approach during the whole fair process has created an unprecedented synergy for the sector. In addition to the fact that being an international fair contributes to the export of local brands to nearby markets, we think that Silmo Istanbul is a very effective organization in terms of promoting the brands/products of companies like us that do not have a large sales team, following the developments in the sector and establishing a network.
July 2023