RAY-BAN NEVER HIDE Be Bold. Be You.

NEW YORK, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Luxottica Group, owner of the Ray-Ban brand -- world leader of sunglasses and optical eyewear -- presents its new strategic platform and media campaign for Spring/Summer 2007 "NEVER HIDE," developed with the creative contribution of the TBWA\CHIAT San Francisco agency and the media planning of Carat International.

The campaign, comprised of a film and a series of situations for print media, outdoor and the Internet, was created and is developed around the concept "NEVER HIDE." Having the courage to express your true self, your thoughts and your personality genuinely, to stay faithful to the values of authenticity and uniqueness have, in fact, made up the DNA of the Ray-Ban brand since its beginning in 1937 to today. And it is these qualities that characterize true leaders.

Ray-Ban has chosen the message NEVER HIDE for a new strategic platform which is set to make its international preview debut in New York City during a special evening event to be held at the famous GUASTAVINO'S -- a hip and unique venue in the American metropolis that aptly expresses the uniqueness and innovative thought typical of RAY-BAN NEVER HIDE.

In its every form, the RAY-BAN campaign portrays regular guys and girls living their day to day lives with authenticity, with the courage to express themselves and their unique individuality, which is the most precious thing we have, because the most fashionable thing to be is yourself.

Ray-Ban has a rich history and an iconic personality that is authentic, real, bold and stylish. Ray-Ban has always created trends, not followed them: authenticity and legacy mean something while flash and sparkle will come and go. But Ray-Ban is forever. Nobody wants fake or temporary. Real trendsetters, real opinion leaders, real individuals believe the most fashionable thing you can be is yourself; to be authentic, real, bold and stylish. So to reclaim its rightful place as the legitimate leader of sunglasses, Ray-Ban has to only speak and act like their maverick selves.

Never pretend. Never be afraid. Never give up. Never Hide.

The NEVER HIDE campaign uses a complete, innovative mix of media: from cinema to print, posters, outdoor, Internet, 'consumer generated viral content', and public relations.

The roll out of RAY-BAN NEVER HIDE will start in March 2007 in all the major world countries with a special project in New York City's Times Square. Ray-Ban proposes an interactive approach giving people the chance to participate directly in the new campaign and to enjoy a NEVER HIDE experience: 12 screens in Times Square will project homemade images, in the Ray-Ban campaign format, of people in the square who want to express themselves honestly and spontaneously. Photos will also be submitted via the rayban.com website. The images will be captured through webcam and there will be a gallery of all of the images collected on rayban.com

Fabio d'Angelantonio, Group Marketing Director of Luxottica Group, stated: "We are enthusiastic about the intense and passionate work done with TBWA\CHIAT San Francisco. The agency has responded to the brand's desire to continue being a global icon. We are anxious to start rolling out the new strategic platform worldwide and to continue to build Ray-Ban's success for the future."

Chuck McBride, Creative Director of TBWA\CHIAT San Francisco, stated: "Because of Ray-Ban's real, authentic nature, its history in contemporary film and music, Ray-Ban and only Ray-Ban sunglasses can say, "Never Hide". Never Hide behind fashion labels. Never Hide behind fashion trends. But most importantly, Never Hide has currency in today's world. Never Hide is a modern rally cry to be creative, be exploratory and be experimental. It's authentic. It's real. It's bold. It's stylish. Never Hide is what we aspire to do. Never Hide is what we should always do."

Ray-Ban was created in the United States in 1937 with the Aviator model and later became famous with other classic models like the Wayfarer in 1952. Today, Ray-Ban is still a brand that embodies courage, free and independent thinking, quality and function, individuality and authenticity. Ray-Ban is the leader, Genuine Since 1937.

Since its big screen debut in 1961 (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Ray-Ban has adorned thousands of famous faces in international film, helping create the myth that it is today. Luxottica Group acquired Ray-Ban in 1999 and today Ray-Ban is the most well known eyewear brand in the world and an absolute leader in its field.

CREDITS FOR THE RAY-BAN NEVER HIDE CAMPAIGN Launch date: March 2007 Geography: global Company: Luxottica Group -- Director of Marketing: Fabio d'Angelantonio -- Group Advertising Manager: Erika Ferszt -- Ray-Ban Brand Director: Marcello Favagrossa Media Planning Agency: Carat International - Vizeum Creative Agency: TBWA Chiat\Day San Francisco Creative Chuck McBride, Executive Creative Director Travis Britton, Creative Director Lauren Harwell, Art Director Jaime Robinson, Copywriter Account Direction Eric Lachter Catherine Talpey Jason Bedecarre Planning Rob Klingensmith Adama Sall TV Production Jennifer Golub Print Production Caroline Conner Joni Wittrup Art Buying Jennifer Small Wendy Withers Print/POS Antonin Kratochvil, photographer Cinema/TV Production Company Person Films Culver City, California Michael Haussman, Director Michael McQuhae, Head of Production/Producer Cinematography Paul Cameron, ASC Editorial Plank San Francisco, California Cathy Bull, editor Visual Effects The Syndicate Santa Monica, California Les Umberger, VFX supervisor MICHAEL HAUSSMAN Michael Haussman is a director, writer and artist living in Rome, Italy.

His internationally acclaimed commercials have won numerous awards and are featured in advertising books and trade journals. They include campaigns for Levi's, Adidas, BMW, Guinness, Replay Jeans, Dockers, Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Catherine Zeta Jones, Lancôme and Volkswagen.

Michael Haussman has directed music videos for such artists as Madonna, Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Chris Cornell, Shakira, Britney Spears, Eric Clapton and B.B. King. His videos have won MTV and VH1 awards. "TAKE A BOW", his first Madonna video, won both the MTV Video of the Year Award and the prestigious Museum of Modern Art Award. Kanye West's "JESUS WALKS" and Shakira, "LA TORTURA," were nominated for numerous 2005 MTV awards, including best video, Shakira "LA TORTURA" won Latin MTV's 2005 Music Video Of The Year. His latest video for Justin Timberlake "SEXY BACK" is the longest running number one video for MTV 2006. Michael has just completed the new BMW cars campaign for 2006 as well as the music video for the James Bond film "Casino Royal" featuring Chris Cornell. Michael Haussman wrote and directed the experimental film, RHINOCEROS HUNTING IN BUDAPEST, which premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. In 2003 he completed a feature-length documentary about two matadors and the world of bullfighting, entitled THE LAST SERIOUS THING.Michael completed print campaigns for Phillips, Replay Jeans, Lancôme Tresor, and most recently the worldwide 2006 print and billboard campaign for Martini. His interest in diverse cultures is displayed in WHERE THEY PLAY, a book documenting football (soccer) fields from around the world, revealing each culture's interpretation of a field within their environment -- from Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, to Morocco, Italy, England, etc. His solo art show 'Naturales,' featuring large-scale matador paintings, in ink on paper, was exhibited at the Desoto gallery in Los Angeles November 15th through January 5th 2006, the New York 'Scope" Art Fair 2006, Group Showing March 2006 in Los Angeles, and opens in Rome February 2007.

PAUL CAMERON, ASC

Paul Cameron made his major motion picture debut with Touchstone Pictures'/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' Gone In 60 Seconds. The short film "Beat The Devil" he shot with Tony Scott at the helm was entered as part of the New York Museum of Modern Art permanent film collection in 2003. His recent films include major motion pictures In the Land of Women, Collateral, Man on Fire, and Swordfish.

Cameron has worked in television, helming the camera department on the pilots Michael Hayes for CBS and Relativity for ABC. He was also the director of photography on Showtime's Parallel Lives and Chantilly Lace. Cameron has worked not only on independent and underground films, but has made a name for himself in music videos and commercials. He won an Emmy Award for Best Cinematography for NBC's national sports campaign for the Olympics as well as a Silver Clio at Cannes for his work on a series of Healthnet spots. He has created memorable videos for such artists as David Bowie, Billy Joel, Janet Jackson and Puff Daddy to name a few. He was born in Montreal, Canada and raised in and around New York City.

Antonin Kratochvil Biography

Antonin is one of the founders of the VII photo agency. Born in the Czech Republic in 1947. As photojournalists go, Antonin Kratochvil has sunk his teeth into his fair share of upheaval and human catastrophes whilst going about his documentation of the time in which he lives. As people go, Kratochvil's own refugee life has been much in the way the same as what he has rendered on film. Kratochvil's unique style of photography is the product of personal experience, intimate conditioning and not privileged voyeurism. Over the years his fluid and unconventional work has been sought by numerous publications stretching across widely differing interests. From shooting Mongolia's street children for the magazine published by the Museum of Natural History to a portrait session with David Bowie for Detour, from covering the war in Iraq for Fortune Magazine to shooting Deborah Harry for a national advertising campaign for the American Civil Liberties Union, Kratochvil's ability to see through and into his subjects and show immutable truth has made his pictures not facsimiles but uncensored visions. And yet, what set his kind apart from the many is his consistency and struggle to carry on. For Kratochvil this fact comes in the form of his numerous awards, grants and honorable mentions dating back to 1975. The latest of these are his two, first place prizes at the 2002 World Press Photo Awards in the categories of general news and nature and the environment. The next is the 2004 grant from Aperture publishing for Kratochvil's study on the fractious relationship between American civil liberties and the newly formed Homeland Security since the World Trade Center bombings. In addition, Kratochvil's fifth book Vanishing was presented in April 2005 and marks another significant milestone for the craft to which he belongs. Vanishing represents a collection of natural and human phenomena that on the verge of extinction. What makes this book so innovative is the twenty years it has taken to produce, making it not only historical from the onset, but a labor of love and a commitment to one man's conscience.

Grants: -- Mother Jones International Fund for Photography, USA. -- 1994 Ernst Haas Working Grant USA. -- 1995 Hasselblad Foundation Grant for Photography / Sweden. About Ray-Ban http://www.ray-ban.com/ About Luxottica Group S.p.A.

Luxottica Group is a global leader in eyewear, with nearly 5,700 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, China and Europe and a strong brand portfolio that includes Ray-Ban, the best selling sun and prescription eyewear brand in the world, as well as, among others, license brands Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada and Versace, and key house brands Vogue, Persol, Arnette and REVO. In addition to a global wholesale network that touches 130 countries, the Group manages leading retail brands such as LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Asia-Pacific, and Sunglass Hut globally. The Group's products are designed and manufactured in six Italy- based high-quality manufacturing plants and in the only two China-based plants wholly-owned by a premium eyewear manufacturer. For fiscal year 2006, Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX) posted consolidated net sales of ?4.7 billion. Additional information on the Group is available at http://www.luxottica.com/.

About TBWA Worldwide

TBWA Worldwide (http://www.tbwa.com/) creates disruptive ideas for global clients, including Absolut, adidas, Apple, Beiersdorf, Henkel, Masterfoods, McDonald's, Michelin, Nissan, Samsonite and Sony PlayStation. TBWA is the most-awarded agency network in the world (The Gunn Report, 2005) and is one of the fastest growing top-ten global agency networks. TBWA has 258 offices in 75 countries, and approximately 9,700 employees worldwide. TBWA Worldwide is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. ( http://www.omnicomgroup.com/ ). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.