NEW YORK—In light of the news reported in VMail on Sept. 3 regarding Kering taking their eyewear business in-house with specific regard to their reorganization of their Gucci license with Safilo, VMail has received further comment from Kering on the plans for the rest of their eyewear licenses.
 
According to a spokesperson for Kering, the company is “talking with [their] licensees regarding the appropriate time to internalize each of [their] other licensed brands” but will be complying with the terms of their current licenses and will wait for the natural expiry of each.
 
The spokesperson added that Kering’s new eyewear division “will be ramping up operations in the course of 2015 with the first licenses to be internalized as of January 2016, as some will be expired by then.”
 
In addition to Gucci, Kering’s other eyewear licenses with Safilo distributed in the  U.S. include Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, McQ and Saint Laurent.
 
A spokesperson for Safilo commented, “For Gucci, we responded to Kering's request to anticipate the end of the license with openness to the opportunity for a longer period of collaboration and compensation on top. That, in total, maintained for us the value that the license would have contributed in its original duration.”
 
“The other Kering licenses are very small [for Safilo],” the spokesperson continued. “Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and McQ will expire at the end of 2015, while Bottega Veneta will end at the conclusion of 2020.” The company added it will announce any related news regarding those licenses as it arises in accordance with the respective contractual arrangements.

Kering’s other licensed eyewear brands distributed in the U.S. include Stella McCartney with Luxottica, Balenciaga with Marcolin, Puma with Charmant and Boucheron with Gold & Wood. Kering already directly operates the eyewear business for their Electric and Brioni brands.
 
Luxottica’s new co-CEO, Enrico Cavatorta told VMail that he had spoken with Roberto Vedovotto, CEO of Kering Eyewear, regarding the Stella McCartney license, which is due to expire at the end of this year, and that it is not likely to be renewed as it is one of their “minor” licenses and only does about $10M a year. The two companies have agreed to work out a smooth transition, he said.
 
A spokesperson for Charmant shared, that they “are in discussions with Puma and do not have any further details to provide at this time.”
 
Marcolin and Gold & Wood couldn’t be reached at presstime.