Safilo, Marcolin go to Black

Black Eyewear has been appointed sole New Zealand distributor for Safilo and has taken on five Marcolin brands.

Previously specialising in sunglasses, including Safilo’s sun range, the new appointments mean Black Eyewear will now add all Safilo’s optical brands, including Carrera, Polaroid, Safilo, Kate Spade, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Max Mara, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy, Fendi and, more recently, Levi’s and David Beckham, to its books. It will also take over the distribution of Dior and Dior Homme eyewear until the end of 2020 when Safilo’s license with Dior’s parent company, luxury fashion group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey), expires. The end of the Dior contract is part of LMVH’s late 2016 decision to focus on producing its own eyewear through its Marcolin joint venture, Thélios.

For Marcolin, Black will now distribute Tom Ford, Guess, Viva, Timberland and Skechers, which had previously been distributed by the now closed Healy Optical Group.

It’s a big year for Black Eyewear, securing both the Safilo and Marcolin ranges and subsequently making significant investments in personnel, technology and marketing and supply chain capability specific to optical wholesale, said director Sven Ericson.

Ericson said he’s excited to be entering the optical space and to help with this has appointed a new national sales manager, Craig Parker. “Craig has an extensive background in optometry, practice consulting, optician training and merchandising. This is a return to the Safilo family for Craig who was previously a regional manager supporting five states in the US.”

David Pearson, Safilo’s senior director, Asia Pacific said, “Safilo is excited to extend our partnership with Black Eyewear as it brings the significant strengths of both parties into one proposition for New Zealand.”

Safilo’s previous optical distributor, Vision Marketing & Distribution (better known as VMD), will continue to distribute its own and other brands, including Bill Bass, CliC, Dirty Dog, Jaguar, Fleye and Menrad, and will look to add to these later in the year and next year, said chief executive Nigel Butler. 

In separate news, Marcolin was named as the new eyewear partner for Adidas, after Silhouette International ended its partnership with the iconic sports brand to focus on producing its own premium sports brands.

For more about Safilo, VMD and Healy Optical’s former brands, see the 2019 OIG or visit, www.eyeonoptics.co.nz/nz-optics/searchableoig/