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Inspecs H1 mixed results highlight new owners’ challenge
INSPECS Group posted a slightly faster pace of revenue growth in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of last year. But that pickup came entirely from Manufacturing, the group’s small OEM arm, which is only just turning a profit. Frames and Optics, INSPECS’ much larger and historically ...
Conant Optical accelerates in H1, broadens XR lens push
Conant Optical’s revenue growth picked back up in the first half of 2026, and its gross margin improved further. Behind both numbers sits a still-small but fast-emerging XR lens business, a segment that grew nearly 16-fold year on year and now makes up 4.3 percent of group revenue. It also ...
Specsavers’ operating margin jumps to 9.9 percent
Specsavers’ profitability improved sharply in fiscal 2025/26, with its operating margin climbing 1.7 percentage points to 9.9 percent, according to the group’s latest Companies House filing, which offers a narrower but more detailed view of the business than the group’s own Annual Review document.
Fielmann cuts full-year guidance as detailed H1 figures confirm depth of German slowdown
Fielmann Group confirmed on Aug. 27 the detailed financial results behind the preliminary first-half figures it published in mid-July, while also delivering the formal guidance cut it had signaled a week earlier. On Aug.20, the German optical retailer lowered its full-year 2026 sales growth guidance, with the midpoint moving from ...
Del Vecchio heir calls for a change of strategy at Essilux
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, called for a change of strategy at EssilorLuxottica, in which the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin is the largest shareholder with a 32.4 percent stake, noting that value of the eyewear giant’s stock has ...
Del Vecchio heir steps down from Essilux management positions
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo del Vecchio, is stepping down from the management positions he holds at EssilorLuxottica, namely Chief Strategy Office and President of the Ray-Ban brand, the company confirmed.
ZEISS bets on eye-tracking as smart glasses learn to look inward too
ZEISS Ventures has led a €2.2 million investment round in SeeTrue Technologies, a Finnish tech company developing miniaturized eye-tracking technology, the group announced on August 5. Superhero Capital and North Karelia Growth Fund also participated, alongside other investors. The funding is aimed at accelerating the commercialization of SeeTrue’s low-power eye-sensing ...
Delfin considering asset spinoff, shareholding pact for controlling Essilux stake
Delfin, the Del Vecchio family holding company that controls EssilorLuxottica with a 32.4 percent stake, is considering a spinoff of its assets among other possible solutions to an impasse between the heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, according to a report in Il Sole 24 Ore.
Fittingbox opens new HQ, celebrates 20th anniversary
Fittingbox celebrated its 20th anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new headquarters in the so-called Data Valley in Labège, near Toulouse, France. Reflecting both the French tech company’s regional roots and its rapid expansion, the new premises mark its eighth location in Labège since 2006.
Synsam aims to expand international outreach with 'major' investment in Haaland partnership
Synsam Group is partnering with Norwegian football star Erling Haaland for the launch of an eyewear collection including prescription eyewear, sunglasses and sport glasses. The Erlind Haaland Eyewear Collection-branded range will include a total of 64 different frames for women, men and children, as well as a capsule collection of ...
GlassesUSA.com parent company increase capacity
Optimax Eyewear Group, the operator of GlassesUSA.com, is expanding the manufacturing capacity of its Atlanta facility by 50 percent by investing “heavily in automation and optical precision.” The move follows a 30 percent year-over-year surge in orders, the company said, stressing the positive impact of three of its satellite businesses: OTTICA, a multi-brand luxury eyewear online shop, FORK Eyewear, a sunglasses brand and United Vision ...
AI startup takes aim at eyewear e-tail shortcomings
Eyvero.AI, a Balkans-based IT startup, is launching several AI-powered tools, covering areas such as virtual try-on, or rather “anatomic immersion” as the company puts it, progressive lens fitting analysis, and the creation of digital frame images and marketing materials.
Del Vecchio heir calls for a change of strategy at Essilux
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, called for a change of strategy at EssilorLuxottica, in which the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin is the largest shareholder with a 32.4 percent stake, noting that value of the eyewear giant’s stock has ...
Gentle Monster picks luxury executive to lead its EMEA push
Iicombined, the South Korean parent of eyewear brand Gentle Monster, has appointed Renaud Divisia as general manager of Iicombined Europe, the company announced on LinkedIn last week. Divisia will oversee organization, retail expansion, and commercial strategy across the EMEA region, including Gentle Monster.
Etnia’s new CEO roadmap: sharpen operations, keep the creativity and the opticians
Etnia Eyewear Culture has named Massimo Vian as chief executive, with founder David Pellicer stepping back into an executive chairman role. For the family-owned Spanish company, handing day-to-day control to an outside executive for the first time in a decade is a significant moment, and a signal of where the ...
Del Vecchio heir steps down from Essilux management positions
Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, one of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo del Vecchio, is stepping down from the management positions he holds at EssilorLuxottica, namely Chief Strategy Office and President of the Ray-Ban brand, the company confirmed.
VSP Vision examines the optical shop’s evolution
VSP Vision’s new report – drawing on such previous reports as “The Patient of the Future” and “The Future of Oculomics” – predicts the evolution of eyecare practices under the impulse of tech, notably AI.
Eyewear companies’ stock prices flat in Q2
The stock prices of the 25 listed eyewear companies composing our quarterly chart were essentially unchanged on a non-weighted average basis in Q2 2026, edging down a slight 0.5 percent. The result marks a striking contrast with the double-digit gains posted by most major stock indices over the same period, ...
Survey finds most US sunglasses non-wearers understand UV risks
Approximately 82 million U.S. adults, around 37 percent of the population, do not wear sunglasses. A new survey by The Vision Council (TVC), the national eyewear industry association, suggests that their primary reasons for not doing so are not linked to a lack of awareness about eye health. Instead, the ...
Brazilian eyewear market: 4.5% growth in 2025 reveals mixed picture
The Brazilian optical retail market value rose by 4.5 percent year over year to 28.1 billion reals (€4.8bn), according to the annual report of Abióptica, the Brazilian eyewear industry association. While the sector expanded approximately twice as fast as the country’s GDP, growth was lower than initially expected (5-7 percent).
