Luxury Brand Sunglasses

LONDON, United Kingdom — “It was immediately clear to everybody that this was something special, ” says Luisa Delgado, the chief executive of Italian eyewear licensing giant Safilo, recalling the time she watched the first pair of Dior’s ‘So Real’ sunglasses come off the production line at Safilo’s specialist plant for metal frames in Longarone, a small town in North East Italy. “All the technicians and the workers gathered around to see it, discussing it. Of course, you could see there was no bridge, a very interesting construction, but the most special thing was that it was wearable.”

Safilo and Christian Dior have produced eyewear together for over 20 years, but the popularity of Dior’s sunglasses brand took a leap forward with the release of the ‘So Real’ range for the Spring/Summer 2014 season. Priced from £310 to £539 ($400 to $700), the range had eye-catching, millimeters-thick lenses. The uniqueness of the lenses, plus the visual signature of the finely wrought, aviator-shaped frames, notably absent a nose bridge, instantly appealed to the sensibilities of the Instagram generation. Indeed, very few brands’ sunglasses are recognisable by shape alone. Dior’s are.

“Dior pushes the boundary in the realm of sunglasses, ” says Sarah Blair, senior vice president and divisional merchandising manager for women's accessories and shoes at Barneys. “Their designs are innovative and modern — real fashion statements. The brand has been on a major trajectory since 2014 with iconic styles as ‘So Real’ and the new ‘Split 1’ aviator driving the business.”

“Dior is one of the top selling eyewear brands at Lane Crawford. There has been a growth in the demand for the brand especially since the launch of the ‘So Real’ style, ” concurs Su Kim, senior vice president of merchandising and operations at Pedder Group, which operates the shoe and accessories department of Lane Crawford.

Dior eyewear generates sales of about €190 million to €200 million (about $212 million to $223 million) across all distribution channels, according to Luca Solca, head of luxury at Exane BNP Paribas. To put this into context, Solca estimates that Chanel, a key competitor and a bigger business, whose sunglasses are “more expensive and less broadly distributed, ” generates eyewear revenues of approximately €120 million (around $133.9 million).