Kering Eyewear announces partnership with Chloé

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 5, 2020

Kering Eyewear has added a big-name brand to its portfolio. The business is already responsible for the eyewear collections of brands Cartier, Alaïa, and Montblanc, which are owned by Swiss giant Richemont, and has added another Richemont brand, Chloé, to it’s roster. Kering Eyewear, which was created in 2014 by Roberto Vedovotto and Kering to manage the French luxury group’s eyewear business (which features nine of its own brands including Gucci), thus reinforces its position in the luxury eyewear segment. 

The eyewear manufacturer, which is located in the heart of the Italian eyewear district in Venice, close to Padua, announced, “the exclusive partnership for the design, development, production, and distribution of Chloé Eyewear worldwide,” in a press release.
 
Since 2012, eyewear collections for Chloé, a brand led by the creative direction of Natacha Ramsay-Levi, have been managed under license by Marchon Eyewear. This new agreement signals the end of what has been a particularly fruitful nine year relationship between Chloé and Marchon. Both Kering Eyewear and Chloé recalled that the partnership, among other things, contributed to the launch of many iconic eyewear models including the Carlina, Poppy, and Rosie.

Chloé’s move to Kering Eyewear had been expected since the business has been linked to Richemont for the past three years. In March 2017, the Swiss group acquired a 30% stake in the business’ capital. At that time, the business ‘Manufacture Cartier Lunettes’ in Sucy-en-Brie, France, integrated Kering Eyewear (63% owned by Kering) and became its factory dedicated to ‘jewellery glasses’ and the business began to manage certain collections of Richemont’s brands eyewear lines.
 
The first Chloé Eyewear collection made in partnership with Kering Eyewear will be for the spring/ summer 2021 season and will be launched in October 2020 at eyewear trade show Silmo. The collection will be distributed from January, 2021, and will include a wide range of women’s sunglasses and eyeglasses as well as a ‘mini-me’ selection for young girls, according to the business.
 
Today, Kering Eyewear counts 14 brands in its portfolio, the nine Kering brands comprising Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, McQ, Brioni, Boucheron, and Pomellato; four Richemont brands Cartier, Alaïa, Chloé, and Montblanc; and Puma. The business is no longer responsible for the eyewear collections of brands Courrèges and Stella McCartney.