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A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

businessoffashion.com

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Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#41

Post by bernardom »

frostburg wrote: post #32
walterbell wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a 200 page, 8-years running, active thread on eyewear/frame selection, https://www.styleforum.net/threads/ask-me-about-eyewear.1205... Boutique frames are not usually available online, only from authorized B&M retailers. Because of the cost, opticians only carry a few models. Sometimes older models show up on Amazon and eBay. A few models are available at http://www.pretavoir.co.uk/us/ and http://framesdirect…

I'm a bit confused about people buying glasses online. How do they check for comfort? What about the prescription lenses?

You win some and lose some. I've had great luck with eyebuydirect (apparently soon to be ingested by Luxottica), though sometimes I lose. On the balance, they're so much cheaper that the overall cost still beats going to Lenscrafters.

The hardest part is getting the distance-to-pupil that you need to input in millimeters. I just asked last time I went to a physical store and they measured it with the little machine.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#42

Post by pravda »

slackingoff2017 wrote: post #21
arkades wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My best experience to date for avoiding price-gouging has actually been at Costco's in-house optical. My experience with Zenni was of the "you get what you pay for" variety.

Same here. Zenni frames are cheap, and the lenses are pretty good. But the frames are built from cheap plastic, and so are the linkages, they just plate them with metallic coating. I've had the linkages break on 10+ pairs from fairly innocent things like falling asleep with them on. They work fine, but it's like buying anything else designed to be disposable. Make sure you have a few pairs on hand for backup

I've had lots of Zenni frames and I've had exactly the opposite experience.

I sleep on them, drop them, subject them to all kinds of mistreatment, and they don't break!

Ok, they eventually break, but it takes a few years of mistreatment. I get my $12.95 out of them!

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#44

Post by urs2102 »

hkmurakami wrote: post #20

If you're ever in Japan or Taiwan, have some glasses made there. JINS in Japan is ~$120 including lenses, lenses ready in 3 hours. Pick up same day. I heard there's a company in Taiwan with a similar business model as well. They're set up to handle tourists, and will handle duty free as well.

These are incredible. I was recommended at Warby Parker (since they didn’t do same-day) to visit them when I was visiting San Francisco, and was in the need of a new pair of glasses.

I had an eye test onsite, picked frames, and picked up glasses all within 75 minutes. Awesome experience! I think they are off Powell and O’Farrell, and I’m wearing them right now.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#45

Post by southphillyman »

frostburg wrote: post #22

I didn't do it to avoid the Luxottica monopoly, but I moved to Mykita frames (fitted with zeiss or hoya lenses, since I like my sunglasses to be corrected too - can't wear contacts) and I wholeheartedly recommend them. The steel ones are exceptionally light and easy to clean. Design is subjective, but the 'studio' line is generally rather inoffensive (I do have a pair of the Damir Doma ones, too - https://my.mixtape.…

My Mykita's are the lightest most comfortable glasses I have ever owned. It would be nice if an affordable retailer like Warby Parker could replicate the comfort and quality of Mykita frames.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#46

Post by barake »

Fezzik wrote: post #6

if you’re in to avoiding paying hyper-inflated costs to support entrenched and anticompetitive markets, like what eyeglsses have been for years, I higly recommend Zenni Optical. They have highly customizable options and are great glasses, especially for the price. http://www.zennioptical.com Edit: spelling

Zenni is astonishingly good if you know what size frames fit you. If you’ve already got glasses that fit, the dimensions are often printed on the arms.

It takes a bunch of time to check sizes and narrow down the options but 100% worth it. I have 3 pairs that cost $80 total and paid for extra alike high index and anti-glare.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#47

Post by dreamcompiler »

I bought my most recent frames at a shop in Tokyo to avoid the Luxottica monopoly. They were 1/3 the price, the frame is the best (in terms of both style and ruggedness) I've ever owned, and the optics match my prescription better than any I've ever owned. If you're visiting Japan, bring a recent eyeglass prescription with you!

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#48

Post by jameskegel »

Fezzik wrote: post #6

if you’re in to avoiding paying hyper-inflated costs to support entrenched and anticompetitive markets, like what eyeglsses have been for years, I higly recommend Zenni Optical. They have highly customizable options and are great glasses, especially for the price. http://www.zennioptical.com Edit: spelling

I have owned the same 4 pair of Zenni's prescription glasses (clear) for over 2 years, and I can say that it's the best $100 I've ever taken a chance on. There were a lot of bad reviews at the time, going in, but at $290 a pair locally, I couldn't resist trying and I'm glad I did. I'm a person who is prone to breaking fragile things, and I can say that with no screw tightening or anything above a rinse in the sink, these glasses still look great, years later.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#49

Post by rgbrenner »

lighthazard wrote: post #30
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see an independent ophthalmologist. He stocks both Luxottica and non-Luxottica frames. Every time, they and I blindly select frames with a bias against Luxottica. Every time, I choose the Luxottica frame. Somehow, that company has cornered the market for decently-built frames for non-hipsters.

The lack of good designs for non-Luxottica brand frames is appalling. I use a third party eye glass company to order frames + lenses for < $100 and get good quality stuff (but not the best styles). Why are they not able to compete on style and fashion?

Luxottica offered to buy Oakley, and Oakley refused.. said it was never going to happen.

So Luxottica stopped distributing Oakley's products in Sunglass Hut, etc.. which deprived Oakley of the majority of it's revenue, causing their stock to crash.

Oakley then accepted a buyout offer from Luxottica.

So to answer your question, why are there not better Luxottica competitors.. because when someone produces a good product, they'll become large enough to attract Luxottica's attention...

If Luxottica controls the distribution channel.. what options do you have if they want to play hardball? No good ones.

Re: A Closer Look at the $13B Premium Eyewear Market

#50

Post by walterbell »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #31
lighthazard wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of good designs for non-Luxottica brand frames is appalling. I use a third party eye glass company to order frames + lenses for < $100 and get good quality stuff (but not the best styles). Why are they not able to compete on style and fashion?

> Why are they not able to compete on style and fashion? I am honestly curious if this is primarily a materials, vendor, distribution, design personnel or intellectual property bottleneck.

Prodesign (Denmark) and Modo (US+Japan) have stylish good-quality frames that retail for half the price of premium brands like mykita, ic berlin, lindberg. Unclear why they don't have many competitors.

Mykita founder split from ic berlin (screwless frames). If you look at their designs, there does seem to be IP/patent avoidance. Both are comparably priced. There are supposedly cheap clones available, maybe they can be found on Alibaba.

Edit: see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15431180

Edit2: ic berlin patent (expired?): https://www.google.com/patents/US5418581

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