The luxury eyewear industry
While it may be 2024, clickbaiters are still perpetuating the idea that Luxottica is behind “all luxury sunglasses.” They ignore not only the fact that Luxottica merged with French lens specialist Essilor in 2018 but also that it has been named Essilor Luxottica for years now. The landscape is also very competitive, especially among European licensees.
Essilor Luxottica
Yes, Luxottica first acquired Ray-Ban from Bausch & Lomb in 1999, then Oakley in 2007, to build up its manufacturing and lens expertise before merging with Essilor in 2018 and creating a 25.4 billion Euros revenue behemoth. Luxottica’s 2018 pre-merger revenue amounted to “only” $9,184B.
Kering Eyewear
Kering Eyewear began as a startup in 2014, and later added brands like Richemont’s Cartier to its portfolio. Sales of 1.5 billion euros are wholesale, the Kering catalogue, Gucci, Brioni, Balenciaga, Bottega, and even Richemont brands (a 30% stake in Kering eyewear) like Montblanc, Cartier, Chloe and Alaïa
Marcolin
Italian firm Marcolin, whose portfolio of license agreements includes Max Mara, Tom Ford, Zegna, Tod’s, Moncler Pucci, IC Berlin, Guess, and Adidas, is now Italy’s third largest eyewear manufacturer after Kering Eyewear and Safilo with revenues of 340 million Euro.
Thélios (LVMH)
In 2017, LVMH created this joint venture with eyewear specialist Marcolin. Since then Marcolin and LVMH signed an agreement to allow LVMH to purchase Marcolin’s 49% in Thélios. Thélios creates and manufactures eyewear for LVMH brands, including Dior, Fendi, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo, Fred, Berluti, Rimowa, and Givenchy.
Safilo
Italy’s second-largest sunglass producer behind Kering Eyewear, with revenues exceeding 1 billion Euro, holds licenses for Missoni, Moschino, Marc Jacobs, Etro, Dsquared, David Beck, Carrera, Carolina Herrera,
Marchon Eyewear
VSP owns Marchon Eyewear Inc., which generated a revenue of $1.0B in 2023, and holds licenses for Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Lacoste, Nautica, Nine West, and Nike.
Arias Eyewear
Handmade from 100% buffalo horn on the island of Sardinia,
Antica Occhialeria
The custom frame maker from Florence has been producing eyewear since 1956. In addition to its own line, it offers frame replication and glass repair.
L.G.R.
In addition to giving Emily her rose-colored glasses through which she viewed Paris, L.G.R. also takes its time to hand-make each pair, 7-14 weeks to be exact.
Mondelliani
Roman eyewear brand Mondelliani has been internationally recognized for its eyewear and keeps delivering some unique and colorful creations.
Laveta
The Spanish brand uses non-laminated wood for its frames, rings are made from Mazzucchelli M49 Bioplastic acetate, and the logomark is made from Sterling Silver. So if you want different, this is as different as it gets.
Shop here - Instagram
Akila
The LA-based brand designs its limited run frames in-house before each pair is hand-polished.
Masunaga
Japanese eyewear maker since 1905.
Matsuda
It is arguably the hottest (or most mainstream, depending on your perspective) Japanese eyewear brand of the last decade.
Maybach Eyewear
Handcrafted in Germany from gold, silver, titanium, palladium, and Zeiss lenses, Maybach Eyewear ticks all the boxes of what luxury eyewear can look like.
Follower favorites
Entourage of 7 - Shop here / Jacques Marie Mage - Shop here / Oliver Peoples - Shop here / The Bespoke Dudes - Shop here / Lesca Lunetier - Shop here / E.B. Meyrowitz - Shop here / Leisure Society - Shop here / Cutler and Gross - Shop here / The Reference Library - Shop here / Mykita - Shop here /
Honorable mentions
Fleye Copenhagen - Shop here
Hoet Couture - 3d printed made-to-measure titanium glasses - Shop here
Maison Bonnet - bespoke eyewear - Shop here
Moscot - NYC frame-maker since 1899 - Shop here
Silhouette - titanium frames - Shop here
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