HIGHLIGHTS
KERING EYEWEAR
In the space of eight years, Kering Eyewear has gone from strength to strength, bouyed by acquisitions, launches and innovations that have set high standards for the sunglasses category in travel retail. In these pages, we look at Kering Eyewear’s biggest highlights over recent years.
Through Their Eyes
Since its founding in 2014, Kering Eyewear has been dedicated to maximising the potential of its brand portfolio through creative and sustainable means. ‘Through Their Eyes’ is the eyewear company’s ongoing two-year collaboration with international multi-media artists.
The project showcases young artists who have been tasked with developing new creative concepts that tell the story of Kering Eyewear’s values and collections. Through this initiative, Kering Eyewear creates a direct link with the art world, with a particular focus on digital and virtual art.
Digital art, according to Kering Eyewear, represents ‘the new frontier’ of creativity and technology.
Each season, Kering Eyewear plans to showcase a different artist who will interpret the aesthetic codes and values of different Kering Eyewear brands through various digital mediums. The first edition features Roman illustrator Camilla Falsini, who is known for her colourful vectors, digital collages and material applications.
Her concept is called ‘Look Into My Eyewear’. It visualises Falsini’s perception of the Kering Eyewear universe, illustrated in her distinctive, colourful and geometric style. Falsini’s works also feature in Kering Eyewear’s Digital Retail Concept.
Major acquisitions
In recent years, Kering Eyewear signed agreements to LINDBERG and Maui Jim and has struck partnerships with major luxury brands such as Cartier, Chloé and Dunhill.
Founded in 1987, Maui Jim is the world’s largest independently owned high-end eyewear brand with a leading position in North America. Recognised for its outstanding technicity and distinctive Hawaiian heritage that embodies the ‘Aloha Spirit’, Maui Jim is an authentic brand that offers a broad spectrum of high-quality sun and optical frames sold in more than 100 countries. Anchored in its culture of innovation, Maui Jim engineered the proprietary and patented revolutionary PolarizedPlus2 lens technology which protects users from intense glare and harmful UV while enhancing colour naturally perceived by the eye.
In 2021, Kering Eyewear completed the major acquisition of Danish luxury eyewear brand LINDBERG.
LINDBERG was founded in 1969 by optician Poul-Jørn Lindberg and his wife Hanne Lindberg. Today, the eyewear house is a high-end manufacturer of lightweight, stylish and customisable sunglasses and optical styles with a special focus on titanium frames.
The company is particularly known for its made-to-order capacities, enabling customers to design and create their own bespoke pair of LINDBERG glasses. The company’s extended modular system allows for almost endless colour and material combinations, offering a wide array of materials including titanium, acetate, buffalo horn, wood or precious metals.
LINDBERG JOINS KERING EYEWEAR
According to Kering Eyewear, LINDBERG is a brand with strong legitimacy, know-how and best-in-class services and a powerful addition to its luxury portfolio. The deal also allows for enhanced synergies in distribution and geographical reach, contributing to the acceleration of Kering Eyewear’s growth and profitability.
While 2020 is known as the year when COVID-19 closed much of the world, Kering Eyewear remained very much open, expanding its portfolio with some of the world’s leading luxury brands.
Notably, the company entered into exclusive partnerships with the Dunhill and Chloé brands. The first Dunhill eyewear release was launched alongside the Dunhill summer 2021 collection. The ready-to-wear range featured an offering curated for the Asian market, with Japan a key focus.
The Chloé agreement builds upon Chloé’s previous nine-year agreement with Marchon Eyewear, which resulted in the creation of the brand’s popular Carlina, Poppy and Rosie styles. Chloé, owned by the Richemont Group, is known for its ‘couture savoir-faire and youthful attitude’.
With these key additions to its growing portfolio, Kering Eyewear continues to strengthen its leadership position in the luxury eyewear segment.
Travel Retail Exclusives
Exclusivity is a key purchase driver in the sunglasses category and so Kering Eyewear consistently releases new exclusive styles and travel retail-dedicated media campaigns from its brands. Recently the eyewear house launched a dazzling campaign visual for Gucci, which ran from June-September in selected travel retail locations.
The visual was created in line with Gucci Eyewear’s channel-oriented strategy. To support the campaign, Kering Eyewear rolled out dedicated displays and travel retail-exclusive retailtainment experiences in top travel retail doors.
The campaign features two models designed specifically for the channel. These include a men’s pilot frame and a women’s oversized pair. The men’s style features godron details on the top front bar in enamel. The women’s style features an oversized square-shaped rimless silhouette with heart-shaped charms decorated with Gucci’s interlocking G logo.
Inspired by travel and music, the evocative visual tells a story from the miles travelled by musicians during their tours, featuring the buses and vans that become their temporary homes while on the road.
Chloé makes a statement
Last November, Kering Eyewear introduced a new global travel retail-exclusive special edition frame from Chloé. The style was launched in selected top travel retail doors from November 2021 to June 2022.
The Sofya style features an oversized square frame. It is decorated with a delicate charm, engraved with Chloé’s ‘C’ motif on the temples. The travel retail-exclusive style also features a second hot air balloon-inspired charm with coloured enamel details. The half-rim frames feature grey gradient lenses, enhanced with Havana enamel from the front rim through to the temples.
Selected China Duty Free Group and DFS Group locations supported the launch with tailor-made in-store digital experiences to promote the latest release and enhance customer interaction. The pop-ups bring Chloé's feminine and elegant style and feature gold and white design details, punctuated with the striking campaign visual.
