LensCrafters 2010 Annual Report Download - page 13

|11 >
50 YEARS
OF EXCELLENCE
50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
INCORPORATION
Luxottica Group was founded by Leonardo Del Vecchio in 1961, when he set up Luxottica di Del Vecchio e C. S.A.S., which
subsequently became a joint-stock company organized under the laws of Italy, under the name of Luxottica S.p.A.
2011 is the Group’s 50th Anniversary and Luxottica is celebrating this milestone with an enhanced focus on its core values
of growth and innovation.
The Company started out as a small workshop and operated until the end of the 1960s as a contract producer of dyes,
metal components and semi-finished goods for the optical industry. It gradually widened the range of processes offered
until it had an integrated manufacturing structure capable of producing a finished pair of glasses. In 1971, Luxottica’s first
collection of prescription eyewear was presented at Milan’s MIDO (an international optics trade fair), marking Luxottica’s
definitive transition from contract manufacturer to independent producer.
Since then, Luxottica has always been a cutting edge company, with a unique business model, able to satisfy every market
need.
EXPANSION IN WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION
In the early 1970s, the Company sold its frames exclusively through wholesalers. In 1974, after five years of sustained
development of its manufacturing capacity, it started to pursue a strategy of vertical integration, with the goal of distributing
frames directly to the market. The first step was the acquisition of Scarrone S.p.A., which had marketed the Company’s
products since 1971 and which brought with it vital knowledge of the Italian market.
International expansion began in the 1980s with the acquisition of independent distributors, the opening of branches
and the forming of joint-ventures in key international markets. Having started with the opening of the first commercial
subsidiary in Germany in 1981, the Company’s international wholesale development continued with the acquisition of
Avant-Garde Optics Inc., a wholesale distributor in the US market, in the mid-1980s, and the acquisition of Mirari in Japan,
in the 1990s.
EYEWEAR: A NEW FRONTIER OF FASHION
The acquisition, in 1981, of La Meccanoptica Leonardo, the owner of the Sferoflex brand and an important flexible hinge
patent, enabled the Company to enhance the image and quality of its products and increase its market share.
From the late 1980s, eyeglasses, previously perceived as mere sight-correcting instruments, began to evolve into “eyewear.”
Continual aesthetic focus on everyday objects and interest on the part of designers in the emerging accessories industry
led Luxottica, in 1988, to embark on its first collaboration with the fashion industry by entering into a licensing agreement
with Giorgio Armani. The Company followed up that initial collaboration (the Armani license was terminated in 2003) with
numerous others, gradually building the current world-class brand portfolio with the launch of collections from names like
Bvlgari (1997), Chanel (1999), Prada and Versace (2003), Donna Karan (2005), Dolce & Gabbana (2006), Burberry (2006), Polo
Ralph Lauren (2007), Tiffany (2008), Stella McCartney and Tory Burch (2009) and, starting from 2012, Coach.
As for house brands, the Company expanded in the sun business by buying Vogue (1990), Persol (1995), Ray-Ban (1999)
and Oakley (2007).