Luxottica.
It’s a powerhouse name in the world of eyewear and eyecare, but you’ve probably never heard of it. That is until it was featured on 60 Minutes.
In 2011, Luxottica made around 65 million pairs of sunglasses and optical frames, according to the story. While they don’t make prescription sunglasses, they do produce some of the biggest names in fashionable sunglasses: Prada, Chanel, Dolce, Tiffany and Bulgari just to name a few. The only problem? They’re all designed in house by Luxottica, not by the world famous design houses with their names on the temples.
“Luxottica is monopolizing the market especially when you realize that the ‘high end’ brands such as Chanel, Ray Ban, Oliver Peoples, Ralph Lauren are not made by these designers, it is all made by Luxottica,” says Dr. Amy Jankowski, owner of Metro Eye in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “The same guy that is designing a Prada frame could be ‘designing’ a Chanel frame a day later.”
At any given time, Luxottica CEO Andrea Guerra told 60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl, that at least a half billion people are wearing his brand’s sunglasses. The company made $8 billion last year—not a bad year. Part of that success is due, no doubt, to Luxottica’s ownership of Lens Crafters (the largest eyewear chain in America), Pearle Vision, Target Optical, Sears Optical and Sunglass Hut (the largest sunglass chain in the market). Even independent chains like Optix are selling Luxottica product.
In the 60 Minutes piece, SmartMoney.com columnist Brett Arends says Luxottica dominates the market and is “a price-maker.” “The whole point of a luxury brand is to persuade people to pay $200 for a product that took $30 to make,” Arends says.
When you think all-American sunglasses, you’ll inevitably come back to Ray-Ban, right? Well, Ray-Ban was sold to Luxottica in 1999, and has been an “Italian-owned American brand” ever since.
“These glasses are made on assembly lines and are not high quality at all,” Jankowski says. “They are driving up prices on junk simply to sell a brand name for a lot of money.”
That’s exactly why Jankowski says she avoids the monopolized eyewear giant.
“We do not sell a single Luxottica line for these reasons and truly only sell high-quality frames that are made in small quantities, support small business and are mostly hand made,” Jankowski says.