Luxury Briefing: LVMH’s newly acquired ‘quiet luxury’ brand provides opportunity for growth

On November 6, LVMH announced that its 6-year-old eyewear arm, Thélios, had acquired Barton Perreira, for a reported $80 million. Thélios, which started as a joint venture between LVMH and eyewear group Marcolin, has been solely owned by LVMH since 2021. The company designs, manufactures and distributes sunglasses and optical frames for LVMH’s fashion brands, including Dior, Loewe, Fendi and Celine. Prior to Barton Perreira, Thélios acquired the French outdoor eyewear brand Vuarnet and the Longarone-based manufacturing facility of Italian eyewear company Safilo Group, both in September. 

Barton Perreira was founded in 2007 by Bill Barton and Patty Perreira, who formerly worked for Oliver Peoples as CEO and head designer, respectively. Both left the company following its acquisition by Oakley in 2006. The following year, Luxottica Group bought Oakley for a reported $2.1 billion. For 2022, eyewear leader EssilorLuxottica reported sales of €24.5 billion, or around $26.8 billion, marking an annual increase of 14%. EssilorLuxottica owns or licenses eyewear for more than 150 brands, including Ray-Ban, Chanel and Prada. Thélios CEO Alessandro Zanardo is a Luxottica alum.

“We believed we could elevate what we were doing [at Oliver Peoples],” said Bill Barton, CEO of Barton Perreira, explaining the impetus for the brand’s initial launch. “We’ve always believed in doing product at an incredibly high level, and we made a commitment when we launched that we weren’t going to compromise on product, in any way.” 

The brand’s product-first focus is fueled by both the design prowess of Perreira and its 100% Japan-based production, Barton said. He added that his relationships with Japanese manufacturers date back to 1988. Barton Perreira makes glasses in limited runs, with most selling for $400-$500. It’s collaborated with brands including Fear of God and “James Bond,” and its repeat and young shopper bases are growing, Barton said. 

Along with Barton Perreira’s Japanese manufacturing, key selling points for Thélios included its growth opportunities in new and current markets. Barton Perreira now sells in the U.S., Canada and Europe, but not yet in Asia. For Barton Perreira, Thélios’s commitments related to marketing and “amazing products” reflecting the brand’s heritage, as well as its plan to soon open new Barton Perreira stores in the U.S. and Europe, were enticing. And, of course, there was the security factor. 

“We were a small company, but we’re now getting magnified,” Barton said. “And it’s good to know that the brand will still be a big deal long after I’m [retired].” The roles of Barton, Perreira and their team members are set to remain unchanged post-acquisition. The announced deal was also finalized this month. 

In the U.S., Barton Perreia operates five stores, in cities including New York, Aspen and Kansas City, Barton’s hometown. But a majority of its sales are via wholesale partners. Also based on Barton’s long-established relationships, the brand was scooped up by buyers at Barneys, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman out of the gate. 

“That [adoption] by non-optical accounts is unheard of for independent brands, because you’re going up against Chanel and Dior,” Barton said. “But those retail partners have been [crucial to] our success.” 

Largely, however, the brand’s sales are optical frames sold by opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. 

Several LVMH brands, including Loro Piana and Berluti, are decidedly “quiet luxury,” a classification that’s caught on over the last couple of years. Likewise, Barton Perreira fits the bill. 

“Our frames don’t feature a lot of bells and whistles,” Barton said, referencing the brand’s intentional avoidance of trends. “We [focus on] product fit and balance, and Patty designs for the face. We love the purity of what she does. … We have our own internal direction, and we have to listen to and trust that.” In spring, the brand launched rimless frames, a category it’s since expanded. 

Thélios’s priorities are aligned. “They’re really focused on luxury — having beautiful luxury brands and maximizing their potential,” Barton said. “They’re not looking for Barton Perreira to be a Ray-Ban. Our frames are never going to be mass-produced.”

For independent eyewear brands, EssilorLuxottica’s scale has made for a challenging retail environment. For example, in 2021, Garrett Leight, son of Oliver Peoples founder Larry Leight, sold a majority stake in his then-11-year-old Garrett Leight California Optical company, citing the need for growth capital. 

“We’re more attainable than many brands, but you get the same quality of product,” Garrett Leight said on a Glossy Podcast episode earlier this month. “Some of the luxury design houses, or household names — Chanel, Prada, Gucci — are selling glasses for $200 more than ours. And they’re more mass-produced.”

Meanwhile, since 2021, Kering’s Kering Eyewear, established in 2014, has acquired Danish eyewear brand Lindberg and U.S.-based brand Maui Jim, as well as the French eyewear manufacturer UNT.

In its latest quarterly earnings statement, in October, LVMH reported slowed growth, with revenue increasing 9% year-over-year, falling short of analyst expectations. Its shares subsequently fell to their lowest level of the year.

The global eyewear market was reportedly worth $107 billion in 2022, and it’s expected to see consistent single-digit growth to reach $323.8 billion by 2030. 

Before Thélios, Barton Perreira had four owners. In addition to Barton and Perreira, they included the brand’s CFO-COO, Robert Fiddler, and former in-house marketer Tim Cadiente.