PADUA— Safilo Group [SFL.MI] and Bobbi Brown, owned by Estée Lauder Companies [NYSE: EL] and founded by the world renowned makeup artist and entrepreneur Bobbi Brown, have announced a worldwide licensing agreement for the design, manufacture and distribution of optical frames and sunglass collections under the Bobbi Brown brand name. The agreement will run until Dec. 31, 2018, with the first collection of optical frames and sunglasses launching in Spring 2014.

“We are very pleased to announce this new partnership with Bobbi Brown, a makeup industry maverick who believes that beauty isn’t about looking perfect, but about celebrating a woman’s individuality,” said Roberto Vedovotto, CEO of the Safilo Group. “We want to replicate the huge success Estée Lauder is having with this brand by translating into her new eyewear collection a modern but classical feel designed to enhance a woman’s own innate beauty.”

Brown, who remains chief creative officer of the brand, added, “I am excited to embark on this new journey with Safilo. I believe that makeup is a way for women to feel and look like themselves, only prettier and more confident. As a makeup artist, I have looked at women’s faces for over 20 years and believe that my beauty expertise will translate naturally into eyewear, identifying the best silhouettes and colors for a woman’s face shape, skin tone and lifestyle. This is a new, innovative approach to interpreting eyewear.”