Safilo strengthens in Latin America, Eastern Europe, renews Liz Claiborne licence deal

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Aug 24, 2017

Safilo is engaged in a worldwide tour de force, adding a string of new partnerships with local players to muscle up its international presence. The latest deal was signed in August with Chilean company Valente Eyewear & Trade, a specialist in eyewear distribution. It is an "exclusive distribution partnership for Chile," wrote in a press release the Italian eyewear group owned by Dutch investment fund Hal.

Safilo's portfolio includes licences for Dior, Fendi, Max Mara, Marc Jacobs, Polaroid and Givenchy, and in 2016 the group reported a revenue of €1.25 billion. It has recently strengthened in the USA and the Middle East, and is now going places in Latin America, for which in 2013 it established a division based at the group's Miami headquarters. The division operates subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico, and last year it set up a partnership with a local distributor in Argentina.
 
In early August, Safilo also announced it has entered into Belarus and Kazakhstan via various agreements with local opticians. The group also underlined the "exceptional results" obtained in 2016 and early 2017 in central and eastern Europe: in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Balkans and Turkey, where it opened a subsidiary in 2015.

Finally, at the end of July, Safilo renewed for a further five-year term its licence agreement with US label Liz Claiborne, which since November 2011 is owned by JC Penney, a retailer specialised in apparel and furniture accessories in the USA and Puerto Rico.

"The Liz Claiborne brand became part of Safilo's US portfolio in 2003, via an opticians' licence included in the acquisition of Outlook Eyewear. This was followed by the launch of a sunglasses collection and, in 2004, of the Claiborne spectacles collection," said Safilo.