The eyewear market is one of the strongest luxury licensing fortresses, where the big global designer brands can still make the stock exchange markets move and shake by inking or renewing deals with a handful of big licensees.
Luxottica, Safilo, Marcolin, Allison, Marchon, De Rigo were all exhibiting at Mido, the reference trade fair for eyewear and ophtalmic industry, with their licensed brands duly displayed for the press and international buyers, and we were there to catch the branding vibrations. As usual in this business, the big brands keep the safe side, and it is pretty difficult to find innovation which really stands out: the rich branded market wants its shapes, materials and colors so, some exception aside, it’s just a matter of what logo to be featured on what frame.
Noticeable exceptions: Tom Ford, John Varvatos, Original Penguin, Vera Wang, Zac Posen and all the licenses at Linda Farrow (see special section in the reportage) are the collections more clearly inspired by the designers.
And new winds were blowing at Italia Indipendent: a brand which prefers collaborations rather than simple licenses. The collabs with adidad, Pinko, Hublot, Ducati Scrambler rehiterate Italia Independent strategy, where cobranding means proposing some special eyewear designs while getting a limited edition bike or watch in exchange.
Another special mention goes to automotive brands: BMW (by l’Amy), Mercedes Benz and Porsche Design (by Rodenstock) all stay true to their brand values of design and materials. Retailers or vertical integrated fashion brands like Pull & Bear and Mango are also emerging.
Finally, some outsiders like Morriz of Sweden and the Italian Saraghina play a different tune, at least on the way the brand are displayed and presented.
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