At Vision Expo West, Eyewear’s Biggest Players Confident About the Road Ahead
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LAS VEGAS — At this year’s Vision Expo West — held at the Sands Expo Convention Center and the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino here — eyewear’s biggest players were optimistic about the rest of the year and on to 2024 despite the economic uncertainty and apparent slowdown in luxury sales.
Counting more than 400 exhibitors, the West Coast show continues to grow and evolve, increasing in participants from last year. Eyewear companies are focused on developing innovations and evolving their sustainability programs, all while launching licensed brands to reach a wider demographic.
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“The overall market evolution has been softer in the last quarters, particularly in the contemporary and premium segments,” explained Vittorio Verdun, Safilo Group president of North America. “Nonetheless, we have seen a positive momentum for all our top brands in the past few months.”
The executive reported that Carrera, Carolina Herrera, Kate Spade New York and Boss are all achieving positive results in their main channels of distribution. Carolina Herrera in particular, he said, is performing very well within the independent optical channel, “doubling its business over the last quarter.”
The Italy-based company is shoring up in the face of the economy by “continuing to focus on what’s best for our customers, striving for high service levels and operational excellence, including the upgrade of our ERP system.”
Verdun went on to say that over the past few years, Safilo has been “redefining partnership, continuing to reinforce our relationship with our clients and offering also an increased and balanced portfolio.”
Just before the trade show the company revealed a partnership with Stuart Weitzman, creating a first for the Tapestry-owned shoemaker: a full range of eyewear. It debuts with a fall release in 2024 “that will be fully aligned with the iconic codes of Stuart Weitzman,” Verdun said, adding that the brand is also marking renewed licensing agreements with Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade New York, Fossil and Juicy Couture.
On the technology side, the eyewear group is stepping into the smart glasses arena with a strategic partnership with Amazon with the Carrera Smart Glasses with Alexa. “We became the first player in the eyewear industry to create a personal assistance device installed on glasses,” Verdun said, a product that “leverages the everyday convenient support of a powerful personal assistant engine with the pleasant and wearable form factor of a stylish pair of Carrera eyewear.”
It’s a competitive space, but “our value preposition is unparalleled: style matched with function,” he countered.
Feedback at the trade show on the smart glasses was extremely positive, the executive claimed. “Many of our accounts have told us that they are open to exploring bringing the product into select retail-oriented locations in 2024. We are also facing a daily growing number of requests for information on our online platforms, which is very encouraging,” he said.
EssilorLuxottica debuted its second-generation smart glasses, part of a partnership with Meta, and the glasses got a serious upgrade, also adding AI technology. “What really makes the new collection a feat of engineering is that all this technology is packed neatly into your favorite frames without sacrificing comfort or style,” explained vice president, Ray-Ban North America Dan Alder. The new Ray-Ban | Meta “not only offers much more in technology and experience, but also provides eye care professionals with a full package offering to their patients, as it is now available with prescription lenses and can be covered by some insurance plans,” he reported.
Ray-Ban | Meta has evolved its ophthalmic proposition, now offered in prescription Varilux and Eyezen lenses, “providing patients a prescription-ready pair to experience.” Ray-Ban is investing heavily to support eye care professionals with full-force, in-store marketing, including demo capabilities that allow consumers to feel, hear and capture the difference of Ray-Ban | Meta smart glasses.
An eyewear brand with immediate brand recognition, it has a significant stake in the Gen Z market. The brand president cited incorporating values “such as gender fluidity and sustainability a key component in the design process, striving toward a more responsible future,” values that that hold weight with the digitally native generation. The latest collections shown in Las Vegas are completely unisex and incorporate eco-friendly elements, including bio-acetate frames and bio-nylon lenses made from bio-based polyamide with at least 40 to 65 percent of content coming from renewable sources.
“Ray-Ban’s core values have always championed authenticity, courage and timelessness and the brand will continue to celebrate the next generation of tastemakers by providing fresh eyewear choices ahead of emerging trends,” he said.
Other innovations include Nuance, a product that “will live at the intersection of sight and sound.” According to executives, EssilorLuxottica’s new “Super Audio” team is working on a first product that will incorporate hearing technology seamlessly into a pair of frames. The second is Helix, a division at EssilorLuxottica that will help eye care professionals leverage modern technology like tele-optometry to run their practices more efficiently.
Swarovski, the newest license from EssilorLuxottica, took up a piece of major real estate in this year’s booth. The range of 25 sun and 22 optical designs was developed with Swarovski’s 128-year legacy in mind “but reimagined for commercial wearability,” said Alessandro Mariani, vice president of brand marketing, EssilorLuxottica Wholesale NA. He added that “each piece of eyewear is inspired by the brand’s most iconic jewelry families, bringing the vibrant crystals to center stage and celebrating the fun of using accessories as a vehicle of personal expression.”
The team partnered with Swarovski’s creative director Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert to create a collection that is positioned as accessible luxury, a sweet spot that has been left open by many of the luxury brands in the eyewear market.
“Over the past few years, sustainability has gone from a pillar of the company to something that is woven into every aspect of our business strategy,” explained Elena Dimichino, head of CSR at EssilorLuxottica. The program Eyes on the Planet “is tailored to the specific needs of EssilorLuxottica and its stakeholders, addressing both the environmental and social dimensions along its value chain through the five ‘Eyes on’ pillars of the program: Carbon, Circularity, Ethics, Inclusion and World Sight,” Dimichino said.
The company continues to introduce innovative materials into its portfolio, such as bio-acetates for frames and bio-nylon for lenses, “thereby reducing the use of fossil-based raw materials, limiting and managing waste as well as maximizing recycling and upcycling, while focusing on circularity of materials and products.”
Looking ahead, president of professional solutions, EssilorLuxottica NA Fabrizio Uguzzoni said, “The high degree of diversification at EssilorLuxottica — across regions, categories, trade channels and price points — makes us more resilient in a downturn. In addition, with three-fourths of the group’s revenues coming from the non-discretionary optical segment, our business looks intrinsically more stable than other consumer categories.”
VSP and Marchon’s Las Vegas booth put its sustainability program Eyes on Tomorrow front and center. “By displaying our sustainable materials and frames at Vision Expo, we are aligning our booth with our sustainability efforts and showing the importance in the eyewear industry,” explained Gabriele Bonapersona, chief brand officer at Marchon Eyewear. “Today, Marchon’s portfolio of frames is already 25 percent sustainably made, with frames from performance brands to lifestyle and luxury. We have set ourselves an ambitious goal to be 50 percent sustainable by 2025.”
The company recently introduced Recycled Stainless Steel in the Joe by Joseph Abboud brand under Altair, “Using this material is a first for the Marchon/Altair portfolio and a material we plan to continue using in the future. Steel is the most recycled material on the planet. Frames are derived from 91 percent recycled stainless steel, collected from consumer usage, and renewed into frame-fronts, bridges, or temples.”
Eastman’s Acetate Renew, a sustainable material that Marchon was the first eyewear company to implement, is found in the latest Nike optical range. Produced from Eastman’s innovative carbon renewal technology, it contains about 40 percent certified recycled content and about 60 percent bio-based content. “By using this material instead of traditional acetate, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel usage,” he said
Nike and Marchon also introduced Flyfree, a frame, with interchangeable lens options that securely latch into the frame so the wearer can easily adapt to any environment or lighting condition. “There are not many performance-style frames that allow for a prescription, so we knew it was needed in the eyewear space,” Bonapersona said. The style just won a Silmo d’Or award for the sport category, “so I’d say it’s performing well,” he quipped.
Of show trends, Bonapersona said transparent colors and crystal tones, shields and ’90s styles seemed to be a hit at the show, “as well as all of the sustainable frames we put on display. We are finding that partners and customers will choose a more sustainable option when given the choice.”
Ferragamo a brand gaining buzz on the runway with new creative director Maximilian Davis, had a refreshing frames debut at the trade show. “Davis has really taken the brand to a new dimension, reinterpreting classic styles with a much more modern take. The frames are bold but wearable, all featuring the new Ferragamo logo. So far, the collection has been well received in all markets which witness a more modern and fresher, yet very sophisticated, take,” Bonapersona said.
The company is evolving its digitization efforts. “We are making sure our opticians and customers are well equipped with the most up-to-date digital resources and assets they need. With Kaleidoscope, for example, practices can use our digital frame board system to help simplify the process of their frame assortment. By incorporating this simple tool into practices, offices can create a curated assortment — featuring bestsellers, finding replacements for slow sellers, identifying discontinued frames, etc. By giving our accounts the tools they need, they can focus more on patient care and assure that customers will choose Marchon frames.”
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