It’s a 3-year apprenticeship.
(Press Release) PADUA, ITALY – The third edition of the Safilo Eyewear Product School opened Sept. 18: a structured three-year apprenticeship, unique in the global eyewear industry, that blends the requirements of artisan mastery with an international business context.
Safilo founded the Eyewear Product School in 2015, confident in the power of its historic industry leadership and legacy of generations of eyewear masters. The third edition also marks the upcoming 140th anniversary of Safilo’s craftsmanship origins that date to 1878.
The Product School is part of Safilo’s sustainability strategy, Product-People-Planet. By entrusting new generations with its legacy, nurturing research, celebrating mastery and hand-making, and doing so in an international context, Safilo drives its own contribution to meaningful skill building of new generations, and development of the eyewear industry, as a symbol of Italian excellence.
Five young talents were selected from the more than 130 applications received. They will join their colleagues from the previous editions and, inspired by the German apprenticeship model, will learn through practical on-the-job training, coaching, formal class tutorials and explorations in the field, deepening all areas of production, from design to development, from prototyping, engineering to industrial production, from demand planning to distribution.
Learning will involve job rotation across Safilo’s worldwide manufacturing locations, design studios and commercial subsidiaries in order to develop from the talent pipeline of Safilo’s managerial figures in product design and creation. The apprenticeship is designed as a foundational preparation for international career development toward product director at Safilo Group.