In the realm of eyewear behemoths like Luxottica, Marcolin and Safilo, Kering Eyewear is in its infancy, but, with acquisitions of eyewear giants Lindberg and latterly, Maui Jim, is packing punches well beyond its years.
Formed in 2014 as part of wider Kering Group luxury fashion house, Kering Eyewear spent its first few years bringing home many brands that had been licensed for production and distribution with other manufacturers. The likes of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Dunhill have all been repatriated into the house of Kering in recent years, and the eyewear division now handles design, development and distribution for 17 of its house brands.
Speaking on the company’s beginnings during a press briefing following the Maui Jim announcement, Kering Eyewear president and CEO Roberto Vedovotto said: ‘Together with Kering Group, I founded Kering Eyewear with a group of talented managers to develop in-house eyewear expertise for the group’s brands. We’ve come a long way since we started. We went from three people and now, we have over 3,500.
‘We were the first to make this move in the industry. To make a specific, powerful entity to manage and develop this key category in our business. It was the right move, and the right time and Kering Eyewear has gone from strength to strength since its inception.’
Branching out
Kering Eyewear was already going against the grain with its approach of handling eyewear production and distribution, but the 2021 acquisition of Danish designer eyewear brand Lindberg showed the company was considering additional approaches to achieving growth.
‘With the acquisition of Lindberg last year, we are branching out our offer into a very high-end segment of the market. With Maui Jim, we will have a highly differentiated product offer,’ said Vedovotto.
‘Maui Jim is strong in travel retail and in North America and we believe there is huge potential to expand the brand in Europe and Asia Pacific,’ he added. ‘It’s a very complementary brand in terms of presence and we are stronger together.’
Founded in 1987, Maui Jim was the largest independently owned eyewear brand in the world and is renowned for its lens technology and innovation – something Kering planned to utilise across the wider brand portfolio. ‘We will adopt Maui Jim’s innovative lens technology to our brands such as Gucci and Cartier, so consumers can get the full eyewear package,’ said Vedovotto. It was also hoped that Kering could leverage Maui Jim’s prescription lens technology and logistics, which in 2018 was bolstered with the opening of a new manufacturing and distribution hub in Braunschweig, Germany.
Broadening the portfolio
With two high profile acquisitions in a short space of time, it was unsurprising that Vedovotto was asked about further acquisitions. ‘We now have a very balanced portfolio. With this acquisition, we have completed our offering in the high-end segment of eyewear,’ he told the briefing.
‘In terms of acquisitions, if we believe we are missing a segment, we try to fill it. We have the optical specialist Lindberg, we have the timeless brand Cartier, high-fashion brands like Gucci and Saint Laurent, and we are happy now to have Maui Jim, which is timeless and has a loyal customer base. Maui Jim customers have between five and seven pairs of the brand’s sunglasses,’ said Vedovotto.
The overall priority was to grow the ‘super luxury’ brands in Kering, further expand Lindberg and Maui Jim, said Vedovotto. Lindberg was highlighted for increased activity in the sunglass market, while using Kering’s strong geographical presence in Europe, Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, was the priority for expansion of Maui Jim’s business. ‘We have a lot of work to do, and we are very excited,’ Vedovotto concluded.