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MILAN and NEW YORK—Continued investment in distribution, manufacturing capabilities, new brands, acquisitions and more have been significant over the past few years at Thélios, the eyewear division of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group. In an exclusive interview with VM at this year’s Mido in February, CEO Alessandro Zanardo described the Thélios of today as a more “integrated” company. “We now have full control over all the technologies for eyewear and can start to implement production in creative and effective ways for our collections and brands.”

This includes a group of proprietary brands such as the French sport brand Vuarnet, as well as Barton Perreira, a major acquisition announced by Thélios last November, compatible with LVMH’s own “maisons” or houses, such as Dior, Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo, Berluti and Fred, spanning fashion, leather goods, jewelry, watches and more.

This spring will see the much-anticipated return of Tag Heuer eyewear, which Thélios is launching now to a “super-selective” group of accounts, its expansive collection the result of several years of intensive R&D, design and technology collaboration, resulting in proprietary materials and constructions.

Also new this spring is the launch of Bulgari, one of the jewelry houses of LVMH, with a new collection which uses some of the house’s unique jewelry plating and craftsman techniques in the manufacture of eyewear.

The November 2023 announcement of the deal to acquire Los Angeles-based, independent eyewear brand Barton Perreira was followed up last month with the creation of a special environment for that eyewear brand within the series of dramatic Thélios image showrooms built at Milan’s Museum of Science & Technology, another sign of the ongoing transformation of the group.



Thélios created a dedicated showroom for recent acquisition Barton Perreira at its exhibit space in Milan last month.

Among the space showcasing Thélios’ designer collections, the company amplified the return of Tag Heuer to eyewear in a sleek and architectural space in Milan. The collection debuts this year.



Zanardo told VM, “There’s been so much accomplished, but there are three major things that were significant in the past year. For the first two, we made our first acquisition of independent brands via Vuarnet and then the singular Barton Perreira, which are not only significant in their own right, but a reflection of LVMH’s true support of our goals as an eyewear company. The confirmation that LVMH believes in our platform, to have these special independent brands join us in addition to our well-known brand houses’ designer collections, has been very important.”

Third, after much work and intensive discussion, Zanardo pointed to the important industrial move of the acquisition of a historic metal manufacturing facility in Lonagarone, Italy, by Thélios: “This long process speaks to the commitment we made to a group of very skilled and capable employees at this plant, a way to maintain and perpetuate this type of heritage for our group.”

Thélios acquired the majority of the former Safilo manufacturing facility in the valley, reinforcing the group’s commitment to “Made in Italy” as Thélios completed the process and integration of 247 employees into its own workforce, preserving the know-how of the Belluno district, the company said at the time, noting that the facility will complement its existing employees at Thélios’ original factory in Longarone. The new agreement follows the acquisition of Metallart in July 2022.

Commercially, Zanardo noted that Thélios added to its global presence with new subsidiaries in Benelux and Mexico in 2023 and, as of Jan. 1 this year, a new subsidiary opened in Dubai to serve the Middle East region.

“All of these actions, of course, have had an impact on our organization itself. We’re almost 2,000 people now, versus the 700 that we were two years ago. So, we’ve also been working to stabilize our organization processes and structure, business-wise, too.

“We believe we now have all the assets, from the design to the industrial to the commercial and marketing in the eyewear sector, to be able to develop these and enable them to flourish by partnering with our very special wholesale clients around the world.”

LVMH Group, a public company, does not break out revenues for the eyewear group, but Thélios’ business in 2023, Zanardo said, grew “double digits overall,” and just under the double-digit mark in North America, which is still, he maintained, better than the industry average. Zanardo doesn’t rule out future acquisitions, “but only if the factors are ‘right’ for who we are and what we’re building.

“Big brands are not what we need, are not what we want to fit with our business model, which is selective, where we can work with partners that will showcase our collections and brands in the best environment in the best possible way to tell their stories.”

Stated Zanardo, “We will always have this kind of intimate approach with our clients. Because it’s not that we keep adding clients when we add brands, we still have our preferred customers, and we want to grow with them.”