Lifestyle
It is a buoyant market, experts promise, which alone would be worth around 15 billion dollars. The Good Life paints a picture of a sector where sunglasses are establishing themselves as the accessory of cool and fashion.
Sunglasses, born in the 1920s, first worn by African-Americans before becoming the symbol of Hollywood glamour, shaken by the Covid crisis, then boosted since the end of the pandemic, are doing well. A sector that should experience, in the coming years, a continuous annual growth of 5 to 6%*, propelled by the strong sales of the North American market (sales in the United States are estimated at more than 4 billion dollars in 2022), and by the lovesick love of Italians, Chinese, French, Germans or Brazilians, the main consumers in the world.
Numbers
- 30: The number of sunglasses sold worldwide every second
- 15: the turnover (in billions of dollars) of sunglasses worldwide.
- 19: 2026 forecast for solar sales (in billions of dollars).
- 150: the turnover (in billions of dollars) of sales of optical and solar glasses in the world.
- 1,800: the number of sunglasses brands currently available on the market.
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“The post-Covid period seems to have reawakened consumers’ desire and audacity, explains Dominique Cuvillier, fashion expert and consultant for the Silmo trade fair. A craze that can be explained both by a “medical” awareness – sunglasses are used to protect the eyes from UV rays – and by their evolution as a real fashion accessory.
The new sacred object of the fashion shows, glasses have thus become, in recent years, the entry point into the world of luxury of the great houses: “A bit like perfume, sunglasses represent this dream at an affordable price, adds the expert, and the young public loves it, who, like the sneaker, see it as a real way of asserting their status.”
In a global sunglasses market that is always competitive, where brands compete with advertising campaigns, in magazines as well as on social networks, licensed brands occupy a large place. The work of the major eyewear manufacturers, who have recently been joined by luxury giants. A key player, EssilorLuxottica (born from the merger of the French lens manufacturer and the Italian eyewear specialist) gave birth, in 2019, to the world’s leading group in the design, manufacture and distribution of lenses, frames and glasses.
A pillar of the industry that, in addition to a few own brands, brings together around twenty in specialist sunglasses licenses – Ray-Ban, Persol, Oakley, Oliver Peoples, among others –, to which are added those of luxury houses, such as Chanel, Prada and, recently, Swarovski. The company, which is not experiencing the crisis – in particular, it acquired, in 2022, the Dutch Grand Vision and its network of 7,200 optician stores –, has observed a 14% growth in its sales in 2022.
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for Sport. District Vision
The new deal in sunglasses
Homeland of fashion and style, and the world’s leading exporter of sunglasses, Italy also has the De Rigo group – a family business founded in the late 1970s, managing a portfolio of 30 licensed brands (Roberto Cavalli, Escada, Chopard, etc.) – and Safilo, controlled by the Dutch fund Hal. A historic company that, alongside its own brands Carrera and Polaroid, brings together those licensed by David Beckham, but also Eyewear, Missoni, Fossil, Havaianas and the first line of eyewear by designer Isabel Marant.
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Are sunglasses a must-have fashion accessory?
Yes, and without hesitation! And Danièle Le Bihan, an inveterate fashion enthusiast, played a major role in this. In 2000, at a time when sunglasses were still invisible in magazines and on runway shows, she chose to go against the traditional codes of optical-eyewear and focused on the world of designers and fashion by launching, in particular, Linda Farrow and Thierry Lasry. Today, fashion magazine spreads are filled with sunglasses. 60% of our models come from designer brands, such as Jacques Marie Mage, Alhem or Moscot, and other emerging brands, such as John Dalia, supported by Carine Roitfeld. And the models from the major luxury brands, Celine, number one in sales, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Gucci or Loewe, are in high demand.
What will be the big trends in sunglasses this summer?
Back to the 80s and 90s and the vintage spirit. Thick, visible frames, with shapes oversized, where acetate is shown from every angle, where translucent, flamboyant, degraded colors come to shake up the collections. White and cream will also be on the beaches this summer, with Prada and Balenciaga in the lead.
Eco-friendly glasses: for today or for tomorrow?
While the craze for wooden glasses was short-lived – they proved far too fragile to be convincing and durable – bioacetate, biodegradable
and from renewable resources, has recently entered the market. It can be found at Peter & May, the pioneering brand in this field, which designs and produces in particular for Jacquemus and Études Studio. And then, the eyewear industry, unlike clothing, is not the most polluting in the world.
In great shape, Safilo saw its turnover cross the billion euro mark a few months ago. The Italian group Marcolin, owned by the French fund PAI Partners, has been manufacturing glasses since the early 1960s in the north of Venice. The company, which designs the Tom Ford, Zegna and Adidas Originals collections, even signed a partnership with the LVMH group in 2018, giving birth to the Thélios joint venture, responsible, at the time, for the production of Celine and Louis Vuitton glasses. A historic partnership certainly, but short-lived; the French luxury group decided, three years later, to cut short the adventure and buy back its shares.
“Compared to historical industrialists, luxury giants have become the new players in solar energy, continues Dominique Cuvillier. Breaking away from the licensing system, groups such as Kering, which created Kering Eyewear in 2014, and LVMH, have gradually internalized the design and production of their eyewear brands, claiming a new aesthetic and design legitimacy.
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Four years after the divorce, the company Thélios and its owner LVMH employ more than 700 people in the Longarone factory, produce more than 14,000 pairs of glasses per day (July 2022), and last year acquired Metallart, a company specializing in the manufacture of metal glasses.
A general trend that is now being followed by New Gards Group, the Italian fashion holding company controlled by the e-commerce giant Farftech. Last February, the company presented the very first collections at the Mido trade fair in Milan Off-White, Ambush And Palm Angelstwo years after announcing the creation of its internal division.
The creators’ market
Faced with the giants, other brands are nevertheless opting for different paths. “A niche market, concludes Dominique Cuvillier, which today brings together connoisseurs, happy few and people with a sharp aesthetic, who are looking for designer brands with polished storytelling, strong design and personality. Designer Alhem Manai-Platt, head of the Alhem brand, is one of them and has chosen the artisanal region of Oyonnax, an enclave of French eyewear, to produce her collections.
Sarah Lavoine followed the same path two years ago by partnering with Ateliers Roussilhe, a few steps away. The models of Jacques Marie Mage, the brand of designer Jérôme Mage, based in Los Angeles, which are inspired by American culture of the 60s and 70s, are, themselves, made exclusively by hand, in Japan. Another vision of luxury, sharp and authentic, in an ever more creative sunglasses market.
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