Latest News Briefs – Page 3
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News briefs
Krys joins the second-hand market
Krys has become the exclusive lens supplier for Seecly, the online marketplace for the sale of second-hand, reconditioned or old frames. Seecly is headquartered in France, operating there and in five other European countries. It appears from the company’s website, however, that its vendors must conduct their business from France. ...
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News briefs
New CEO at C&G
Cutler and Gross (C&G) has appointed Jack Dooley to be Group CEO, according to Fashion United. He will be working to expand and develop the brand. According to his own LinkedIn page, Dooley has a seat on the British luxury brand’s board of directors and will be overseeing teams in ...
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News briefs
Louboutin enters eyewear segment with Marcolin partnership
Christian Louboutin, the Paris-based luxury footwear brand, is entering the eyewear segment, signing a global license agreement with Marcolin, as both partners have announced. The partnership, which includes the design, production and distribution of optical frames and sunglasses, runs until 2029, and the first Christian Louboutin eyewear collections will be ...
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News briefs
MicroOLED joins AR Alliance
MicroOLED, the producer of high-resolution, low-power OLED micro-displays, has joined the AR Alliance as a founding member. The company is particularly interested in establishing “unified protocol for Light AR devices,” as this will enable the aforementioned cross-platform compatibility, extended battery life, lightweight design and “enhanced usability.” Its micro-displays are used ...
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News briefs
Walmart introduces virtual try-ons
This month Walmart is inaugurating what it calls Optical Virtual Try-On (VTO), making the system available on both its app and its website. There will be a “Try them on” flag on or near the main image on the product page for any of about 750 items. Once they’ve clicked ...
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News briefs
Tooz and Chinese firm introduce AR vision correction
Tooz and North Ocean Photonics have developed a planar diffractive waveguide with integrated vision correction for augmented-reality (AR) glasses. They introduced their product in prototype a few days ago at San Francisco’s Photonics West SPIE trade show, a hardware showcase for augmented, virtual and mixed reality. Tooz is the in-house ...
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News briefs
Mister Spex confirms guidance after positive Q4
Mister Spex has announced that its Q4 revenue increased by 7 percent year-on-year, with a 10 percent growth in the German market. The sales uptick was driven by a 10 percent increase in average order value (AOV) across the board while, in the prescription glasses segment, both price increases and ...
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News briefs
Vuzix says it can provide vision correction at scale for AR
Vuzix has begun integrating vision correction into its waveguides for augmented-reality (AR) glasses and head-mounted displays (HMDs). The corrective power extends from +2D to -8D diopters for now but will in time expand to cover the full range. According to the company’s press release, the product “can be produced in ...
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News briefs
Record sales and profits for Topcon’s eye care business
Japanese-based equipment maker Topcon has reported record sales of 54.2 billion Japanese yen (€338m) for the first nine months of its current fiscal year ending March 2024, up by 9.9 percent year-on-year. The topline growth was driven by the group’s domestic market (+17.2%) and the rest of Asia (+23.8%) with ...
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News briefs
MPG is closing its Belgian retail operations
Following reports from the Belgian retail trade press, Michael Ksela, CEO of Retail Optical Stores Netherlands, the company operating the Eye Wish retail chain, has confirmed that Retail Optical Stores Belgium, the entity behind the 35 Grand Optical stores in the country, has filed for bankruptcy proceedings. The two structures ...
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News briefs
Blackfin partners with Barberini for AirGlass lenses
The Italian eyewear company Blackfin has partnered with mineral-glass lens producer Barberini, part of the EssilorLuxottica group, to introduce AirGlass lenses. The polarized lenses in ultra-thin glass will be paired with Blackfin’s titanium frames and make their debut on Blackfin’s new MAVERICKS eyewear. The lenses make use of Blackfin’s ultra-HDR ...
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News briefs
Kering aims at Maui Jim’s “global refresh” with new campaign
Maui Jim’s new advertising campaign features its global ambassador Evan Mock, an American actor, skateborder and model with Hawaiian roots. Dubbed “Color You Can Feel,” the campaign accompanies the launch of a new collection, Ekahi, the brand’s first to be designed and produced by Kering Eyewear. According to the group, ...
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News briefs
US designer eyewear collective donates over $50,000 through Pride Eyewear program
Five US designer eyewear companies in the CFDA collective – Blake Kuwahara Eyewear, Christian Roth Eyewear, Krewe, l.a. Eyeworks and Selima Optique – have donated $53,600 to the TransLatin@ Coalition, a service and advocacy organization supporting the transgender, gender-nonconforming and intersex community. The funds derive from sales of limited editions ...
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News briefs
Essilux officially inaugurates two industrial sites in Mexico
EssilorLuxottica officials were busy cutting ribbons in Mexico last week as the group officially inaugurated two industrial sites in Tijuana and Chihuahua. The new facility in Tijuana is expected to produce an additional 10 million pairs of optical lenses per year once fully operational and will ship up to 25 ...
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News briefs
Blackfin switches to direct distribution in the U.S.
Italian eyewear brand Blackfin is switching to a direct distribution model in the U.S. as of next March 1, putting an end to its multi-year distribution partnership with Villa Eyewear. The new subsidiary, Blackfin Eyewear, will be headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company stressed that the move would enable it ...
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News briefs
French eyewear industry association elects new president
Prûne Marre, managing director of Essilor France, was elected as the new president of GIFO, the French eyewear industry association, last week. She succeeds Eric Lefort, managing director of Marcolin France, who led the organization since April 2022. Jean-Michel Lambert (HOYA Vision Care), Matthieu Lafont (Lafont) and Sandra Timon (Minima) ...
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News briefs
MIDO announces revamped conference program
MIDO has announced the program of conferences for the next edition of the trade fair (Feb. 3 to 5, in Milan). ANFAO, the Italian eyewear industry association, will present the results of its female leadership program on Saturday morning and its new Certified Sustainable Eyewear product certification on Sunday afternoon. ...
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News briefs
National Vision signs distribution partnership with DTC brand
National Vision has announced the signing of a distribution partnership with Pair Eyewear, a U.S. direct-to-consumer brand that offers eyeglasses - starting from $60 with single-vision lenses - and sunglasses with customizable fronts for children and adults, including capsule collections with brands such as NBA, Harry Potter or Coca-Cola. The ...
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News briefs
E.U. tightens rules on CO2 offsetting-based sustainability claims
After months of negotiations, members of the European parliament have officially approved a new directive that will effectively restrict the use of certain terms frequently used by companies in their sustainability claims from 2026. In particular, the European Union is taking aim at the use of such wordings as “climate ...