Giovanni Zoppas.

MILAN— Marcolin Group and Ermenegildo Zegna Group have announced the signing of a licensing agreement for the exclusive rights to the worldwide production and distribution of sunglasses and eyeglasses for the Ermenegildo Zegna and Agnona brands. Both agreements are for a 10-year duration and the launch of the first collections are expected in January 2015.

“We have in common the same passion for excellence that also characterizes our atelier approach, from design to production, and we will meet significant and challenging goals,” said Giovanni Zoppas, CEO Marcolin Group. “This partnership represents a step together in Marcolin’s development plan, strongly supported by PAI Partners, strengthening and enriching the brands’ portfolio, adding a leading brand that is among the most well-known and desired in the world such as Ermenegildo Zegna, expanding and contextualizing the feminine offer and boosting the Agnona contemporary side.”

Founded in 1910 in Italy, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group is a leading luxury menswear brand and is today managed by the fourth generation of the Zegna family with Gildo Zegna as CEO. Ermenegildo Zegna celebrated 100 years in 2010 and today there are 543 Zegna stores, 303 of which are company-owned, in over 100 countries around the world, with total group revenues in 2013 equal to €1.270 billion. Agnona is the women luxury brand part of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group. Founded in 1953, the company currently has 17 stores worldwide, including 10 stores directly owned. In 2013, Stefano Pilati was appointed creative director of the brand.

Gildo Zegna, CEO of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group added, “The ability of Marcolin to interpret in an innovative and creative way the characteristics and peculiarities of the brands’ styles has impressed us. I am convinced that this approach will succeed in creating a precise signature for our eyewear collection in line with the evolution of style and image that Stefano Pilati is designing for both Ermenegildo Zegna Couture and Agnona.”