Luxury Eyewear in the US

2020 IMPACT

Positive past performance unable to prevent sales declines amid pandemic

As increasing knowledge of eye health and proper eye care has led US consumers to increasingly purchase prescription and non-prescription spectacles and sunglasses in recent years, luxury brands have proven especially popular among consumers eager to not only protect their eyes and improve their eyesight, but also to show off designer labels and iconic designs while incorporating them into their outfits as a key fashion accessory. While luxury eyewear has experienced continued growth over the past decade as a result, the positive trend has not been enough to prevent declining sales in 2020, as store and optometrist closures, travel restrictions and economic constraints have either prevented consumers from shopping for and purchasing luxury eyewear, or have led them to trade down to non-luxury eyewear products instead.

Luxury sunglasses delivers weakest performance, but spectacles also suffer

Men’s and women’s luxury sunglasses delivered the weakest performances within luxury eyewear in 2020, as closed stores, travel restrictions and economic constraints delivered a triple blow to the fashion-led segment. Months of store closures across the US amid lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus prevented consumers from trying-on sunglasses, which many prefer to do prior to purchasing.

Eyewear groups look towards M&A as licences are lost

Luxury eyewear remains dominated by large, multinational eyewear groups, with the largest among them, EssilorLuxottica SA, representing almost a third of category value in 2019. While many of such groups have grown through mergers and acquisitions, a large percentage of their sales derive from the manufacture, design, and distribution of eyewear for the leading designer brands, under licence from their brand owners.

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