Today a great deal of the history of both sunglasses and eyeglasses belongs to an Italian company that in just half a century has been transformed from a small company into a world leader in the sector. Founded in 1961 in Agordo (Belluno), at first it worked for third parties. The first collection with the Luxottica brand was presented at MIDO (International Eyewear Fair) in Milan in 1971. Many are the excellent brands it has purchased over the course of time, including Vogue Eyewear (‘90) Persol (‘95), Ray-Ban (‘99), Oakley (2007); even more numerous are the fashion and luxury brands it has licensed. With the purchase of LensCrafters (‘95) the group integrated its optical products with ophthalmological ones; in the retail sector, its acquisitions have continued with Sunglass Hut in 2001, OPMS in 2003 (in Australia) and GMO in 2011 (in South America). At the bottom of its success is its founder Leonardo Del Vecchio's philosophy, a businessman who likes to remember the times when he was just a shop assistant. "You have to have an open mind, never think you've made it, or gaze at the world as the though it were the only reference point. You have to know how to enter the market and stay there, indefinitely, changing, renewing and relentlessly adapting, while holding on to your "DNA." Today the company can count on 65,000 workers and 7,000 points-of-sale on every continent. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since January 1990 and on the Milan Borsa since 2000.