NEW YORK—Designer Steven Alan has renewed its eyewear licensing agreement with Eponym to design, produce and distribute its eyeglasses and sunglasses through March 2021.

Retail expansion for the Steven Alan brand is also part of the agreement. In 2015, Eponym opened two Steven Alan Optical brick-and-mortar units in New York. With the extension of their partnership, Eponym will continue to own and operate Steven Alan Optical stores and has agreed to open five to 10 Steven Alan Optical stores in the next term of the contract. The next unit opening will be a West Village location in Manhattan, slated for April 2016.

Since the brand launched Steven Alan Optical in partnership with Eponym in 2013, the label’s eyewear sales have doubled each year throughout their initial three-year contract, the announcement said, noting that the eyewear and sunwear have been worn by such such celebrities as Emma Stone, Jessica Alba and Naomi Watts.

“As our first eyewear partner, Steven’s subversive take on design and strategy aligned with our desire to create timeless eyewear supported by cutting-edge technology,” noted Eponym’s CEO Andrew Lipovsky. “We are looking forward to expanding our work and continuing to push the boundaries of eyewear licensing.”

Eponym’s unique retail and e-commerce platform enables established fashion brands, like Steven Alan, to design and distribute brand-extension eyewear and sunwear directly to their consumers, under their own label. The company provides an entirely turnkey solution, leveraging the brand’s existing customer base. Eponym embeds with each partner brand’s design team to create their own signature line of eyewear with details unique to the brand. Once the collection is developed, Eponym builds and hosts a custom-designed website, as well as in-store sales units for retail stores, handles all product trail and fulfillment, customer service, CRM and even invests in the marketing of the brand.

“Eponym’s strategic alignment with our business goals and collaborative spirit is a refreshing approach to traditional eyewear licensing. Their innovative retail strategy and e-commerce platform make them the ideal partner to create new awareness for the Steven Alan Optical brand in the coming years," added Steven Alan.

VMail reported on Eponym’s licensing partnership with DITTO for its 3D Try On platform last December.