EYE EYE: Dover Street Market has first dibs on Balenciaga’s debut eyewear collection developed by Kering Eyewear. It is set to launch exclusively in pop-ups at the retailer’s Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, London, Singapore and Beijing locations, as well as on its web site, from Jan. 2 to 9.
The pop-ups will feature glowing podiums, logo carpeting and freestanding, mirrored walls, borrowing elements from recent runway shows and the brand’s flagships, like aluminum finishes, Balenciaga said.
With styles ranging from the every day to the extreme, the eyewear will be suspended on custom stands alongside light boxes displaying the Balenciaga Eyewear campaign.
The French brand’s eyewear was previously produced under license by Marcolin, as reported.
Kering Eyewear today produces collections for 15 brands including Gucci, Cartier, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Brioni, Altuzarra, Alaïa, Boucheron, Pomellato, Puma, McQ, Christopher Kane and Tomas Maier.
Kering initiated a string of changes in the eyewear sector when it decided to set up a dedicated entity in 2014 and bring eyewear production in-house. Other major shake-ups in the category followed, including the merger between Luxottica Group and Essilor, and the venture of Thélios between LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Marcolin, which was revealed last year with
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