NEW YORK—Organizers for Loft Eyewear Shows have announced event details regarding the upcoming second Eyewear Design Week, set to take place in the Chelsea and Hudson Yards districts of New York City from March 5 to 7. Having set the standard for independent eyewear events in North America since 2000, show organizers said as part of its 26th year, Loft will once again present over 150 eyewear collections at its New York event, serving as a major feature and anchor point for the eyewear events and showrooms spread out across the city.
Eyewear Design Week is designed to curate a sense of adventure and discovery where visitors can visit multiple showrooms and create their own itinerary of activities and experiences, the announcement said.
Loft NYC will take place in the same Chelsea Industrial space on 28th St. as last year’s event and have a new added space located at High Line Nine just 100 yards up the street, making it a short walk between venues, organizers said. The continuing education (CE) portion of the event has expanded to include complimentary courses sponsored by Loft and provided by the Opticians Alliance of New York and Kayla Ashlee of Spexy. The education event will feature several top industry speakers and take place at the Chelsea Industrial space on each day of the event.
year’s event.
“We learned a lot in 2025 and have used that knowledge to expand our event even more and bring our spaces closer together this year,” said Loft marketing director, Louis Fullagar. “We are ecstatic to have found the High Line Nine venue just up the street from Chelsea Industrial making it super convenient for all attendees. Having all the brands so close together is definitely exciting! Our innovative Eyewear Design Week project was really well received last year and has inspired many other spin-off events for 2026. We have been firmly putting independent eyewear on the map as has been our mission since day one. I’m looking forward to our expanded CE and partnering with these other companies and showrooms this year.”
Other featured events during Eyewear Design Week include the Kering Eyewear and Thēlios showrooms, the Eyecon event, events at the Marcolin showroom, an Italian eyewear exhibition and cocktails on West 18th St., and an additional 3-day CE program on W. 30th St. sponsored by Zeiss, 20/20 magazine and the Accessories Council, for which more information can be found here.
“We are always humbled by the incredible support from our vendors and optical retailers alike,” said Richard Mewha, founder of Loft Eyewear Shows. “We understood last year that we would have to grow our show to provide a viable and purposeful reason for all attendees to visit NYC for an eyewear event. We added vendors on the lens/lab side of the market as well as CE in 2025 and we are really excited to be expanding both of those areas this year. With the debut of our pioneering event Eyewear Design Week, we encouraged other showrooms to coordinate to give our visitors a range of venues and events to attend. We have added several more to the list this year.”
Known for its excellent catering and beverages, show organizers said Loft will once again serve as the perfect meeting place for industry friends and colleagues while enjoying its relaxed environment. Positioned as an eyewear escape rather than a traditional trade event, Loft said it has always been the place to see the most exciting eyewear designs as well as a unique opportunity to talk to the people behind those designs one on one. The Loft Party will take place on Friday, March 6 at the Chelsea Industrial location. Tickets will be available closer to the date.
Loft NYC will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 to Saturday, March 7. Visitors can schedule all their eyewear appointments and CE classes online on the Loft website.
To keep up with all the latest news, show organizers encourage people to follow along on social media and the Loft Eyewear Shows website and the Eyewear Design Week website.