NEW YORK— Marchon Eyewear, Inc. and Liu Jo have announced an exclusive global license agreement for the manufacture and distribution of sun and ophthalmic collections under the Liu Jo brand name.

“This is an exciting partnership that will add a new point of view into our global portfolio,” said Nicola Zotta, managing director EMEA of Marchon. “We are looking forward to working with Liu Jo as we enter the marketplace with an innovative product presentation that speaks directly to the Liu Jo brand and their particular (Italian) individual DNA.”

Liu Jo was founded in 1995 in Carpi, Italy, an area known for excellence for knits, by brothers Marco and Vannis Marchi. Today the brand offers everything from clothes to shoes to accessories and is present in 44 countries on three different continents—Europe, Africa and Asia—through a distribution network including over 220 mono-brand points of sales and 4,500 multi-brand points of sales worldwide.

"We are developing Liu Jo as a brand that represents a style universe and eyewear is a natural evolution of our strategy,” added Marco Marchi, vice president and owner of Liu Jo S.p.A, along with his brother Vannis. “We are very excited to announce this partnership with Marchon because we are confident that due to their experience and knowledge, the new eyewear collections will express all the glamour and elegance that distinguish our brand.”

The eyewear collections, devoted to a feminine and elegant woman, will be available January 2014. Distribution plans of Liu Jo eyewear collection will be developed in parallel with the international expansion of the brand with initial distribution is mainly focused in EMEA area, with expansion into the American and Asian markets in the medium term, according to Marchon.