Thélios is an Italian eyewear manufacturing company headquartered in Longarone that designs, produces and distributes luxury eyewear products. The company was created and is a subsidiary of the French luxury group LVMH.
History
editHistorically, the LVMH group had always outsourced its eyewear production, except for the Louis Vuitton eyewear collections produced inhouse. In 2016, a Mediobanca report underlined how LVMH was downsizing its business with Safilo (Céline deal terminated in 2017, Dior contract extended 3 years instead of 5 or 7). The report estimated LVMH's eyewear business brought 350 millions euros to Safilo annually (30% of its revenues), and anticipated LVMH's decision to take its eyewear production inhouse.[1]
Thélios was co-founded in 2017 by the French luxury group LVMH and the Italian eyewear manufacturer Marcolin. It started as an exclusive partnership. LVMH acquired 10% of Marcolin.[2] The executive vice-chairman of Marcolin Giovanni Zoppas was appointed CEO of Thélios.[3] its first manufacturing plant, the Thélios Manifattura, was inaugurated in May 2018 in Longarone[4] and the construction of a second factory started in February 2019.[5] Thélios was launched a few years after LVMH's main competitor, Kering, had launched its own eyewear production facilities,[6] when luxury eyewear manufacturers peaked in the global luxury market.[7]
In December 2021, LVMH bought Marcolin's 49% participation in Thélios, becoming the sole owner of the eyewear company, making Thélios a fully integrated division of LVMH.[8][9] In October 2022, Thélios acquired Metallart, an artisanal metalworking eyewear company.[10] In June 2023, Thélios expressed a strong interest in acquiring Safilo's main plant in Italy[11] and changed its own logo to include the tagline "LVMH Eyewear Excellence".[12]
Activity
editThélios designs, produces and distributes the eyewear products of LVMH's brands (Dior, Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo, Fred) and external brands (Bulgari since 2023[13]).
Thélios is a contraction of the words Theia (Greek goddess of light and sight) and Helios (Greek god of sun).
Thélios has signed a 3-year collaboration (2022-2025) with the Venice Film Festival to be the event's official eyewear sponsor.[14]
References
edit- ^ "LVMH could take in-house eyewear for its brands". CPP Luxury. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ Zargani, Luisa (2017-02-01). "LVMH, Marcolin to Set Up Joint Venture". WWD. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ "Marcolin's Giovanni Zoppas to focus on Thélios". FashionUnited. 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ 2018-05-02T00:00:00. "Thélios inaugurates its Longarone plant". Eyewear Intelligence. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "LVMH boosts eyewear business with another Thélios factory in Italy". www.themds.com. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ Guilbault, Laure (2021-12-13). "LVMH and Kering's other battlefield: Eyewear". Vogue Business. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
- ^ "Eyewear companies climb in Deloitte luxury players' ranking". Eyewear Intelligence. 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
- ^ "LVMH to Buy Marcolin's 49 Percent Stake in Joint-Venture Thelios". The Business of Fashion. 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
- ^ "Thélios To Be Fully Integrated Within LVMH | VisionPlus Magazine". 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ "THÉLIOS' Acquisition of METALLART". Finance Monthly | Monthly Finance News Magazine. 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Muret, Dominique (6 June 2023). "LVMH-owned Thélios reportedly interested in buying Safilo's Italian factory". FashionNetwork.com. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ "Thélios updates visual identity with LVMH baseline". Eyewear Intelligence. 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
- ^ "Bulgari and Thélios announce strategic eyewear partnership". FashionUnited. 2023-05-11. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
- ^ Portee, Allyson. "Thélios Is The Official Eyewear Sponsor Of The Venice International Film Festival". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-06-14.