The Dirty Little Secrets of the Eyewear Industry

Published on October 10, 2024

The eyewear industry is rife with secrets. It consists of two main camps and one outlier: high-fashion conglomerates that dominate the market, startup brands vying for acquisition, and innovative companies daring to challenge the status quo and call out the industry giants.  Curious about the real story behind your fishing sunglasses? Prepare to be shocked by what you'll uncover in the next five minutes.

 

The eyewear industry is bubbling with dirty little secrets. When Oakley refused to sell to Luxottica, the latter responded by pulling Oakley products from its 9,100 retail outlets, causing Oakley's stock to plummet over 35% overnight. Today, Oakley is a Luxottica brand. - Fun Fact of the Day

 

An Industry Controlled by a Few Conglomerates

You might assume your fishing sunglasses come from an outdoor brand, but there is about a 90% chance you'd be mistaken.  Costa, Smith, Maui Jim, Oakley, and almost every brand name of sunglasses marketing to anglers have been acquired by hagh-fashion eyewear companies.   These fashionistas are selling "fishing" brands to misled buyers—brands so detached from their parent companies that they're considered outliers. They prioritize the aesthetics of the frame and lens, utilizing cheap, commodity materials while neglecting available technology that could enhance your vision.  If you are wondering why, the answer is basic economics. Chances are, you have no idea who these companies are.

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I’ve been doing business with Luxottica for 25 years. They have one goal in mind, which is to take over the world. They say, ‘If you want to come join us, we’ll be partners, but if not, we will eat you alive.’ - Myles Zakheim, co-founder of eyewear brand Zak

 

Combined, Essilor Luxottica (Italy), Safilo (Italy) and Kering (France) own or license 184 sunglasses brands that are worth a staggering $105 billion! It's the same companies, using the same technology, and the same factories to build all of these brands. It gets a bit more scary when you find out they also own most of the large distribution outlets.  Did you know that Bass Pro Shops leases floor space to Sunglass Hut… who is owned by Luxotica… who owns Costa? Even if you purchase prescription glasses, LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, and Sears Optical are part of the monopoly!  Luxottica alone controls 80% of the major brands in the $158 billion global eyewear industry. It is estimated that today over 1.4 billion people around the world wear Luxottica glasses, many doing so without even knowing it.  In this environment, monopolies create a very cynical structure – giving consumers merely the illusion of choice rather than choice itself.
 

 

Monopolies can hurt consumers because they lead to inefficiencies, a lack of innovation, and higher prices. In a recent survey exploring attitude/behavior gap it was found that: 60% of survey respondents would not purchase from a monopoly. Of those, <20% seek out information prior to purchase and 86% have purchased from a monopoly unknowingly
 

If you're a serious angler, you know every aspect of your gear has evolved.  Our rods, reels, boats, electronics, and even our clothing, right down to our underwear, have gone high-tech. Everything except our sunglasses.  Bruno Cassiman, a professor at Spain’s IESE business school, is convinced that the current monopolistic strategy of “buying the competition” is geared entirely towards expanding the bottom line.  “Many companies have underestimated the possible negative impact of mergers and acquisitions on the process of innovation.” This monopolistic structure of the market leads to reducing R&D while profits have become “relatively obscene,” says Tim Wu, a professor of law at Columbia University and the author of The Master Switch.  And this is not a new problem for the industry.  In 2012, 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl exposed Luxottica’s shark-like approach to the industry.  And what became of this? Nothing. Sunglasses are an industry where we continue to support foreign monopolies that reduce their costs by utilizing inferior materials, employing cheap labor and manufacturing in China.  But why?

 

What influences us to buy?
 

The psychology of consumption and trying to decode what drives our purchasing behavior has been studied for years, and while it is well beyond the scope of this paper, a few key points stand out in the eyewear world.

Social Acceptance and Belonging: As social beings, we are genetically programmed to align ourselves with others, a tendency vividly illustrated when we buy into the latest trends. Social norms, peer pressure, or a desire for social acceptance in our eyewear choices easily sways us.  A fishing guide, the sponsored host of a fishing show, or even a coworker who “fishes a lot” influences our buying. 

 

 

Your choice of fishing sunglasses is driven more by a desire for social belonging than by their actual impact on your fishing performance
 

 

Marketing Tactics: Companies employ a myriad of persuasive tactics to entice purchases.  It is often very difficult to differentiate marketing from reality.  Have you ever heard the saying “What you don’t know you don’t know.”

 

 

Most of us do not put in the minimum amount of time to identify technical eyewear because we simply don’t know that lens technology is light years ahead of the market.  By reading this article, you have taken the first step to elevate your game.  So how do you identify companies that are not innovating? There are a few dead giveaways.  This easiest is when a company is touting basic technology as an innovation.  For example, as a consumer you should expect UV protection and lens clarity from a premium eyewear brand. Companies that promote blocking blue light or having “super” clear lenses have nothing to use as a product differentiator and resort to the basics. Companies that still offer plastic lenses (with all the clarity of a water bottle) should not be considered premium eyewear companies. Even if they offer an additional premium lens material, such as glass, you have to wonder why they would associate their brand with an inferior product like polycarbonate.  Sometimes it is more difficult when a marketing message gains traction but is based on false messaging. Costa masterfully did this, claiming green mirrors were for inshore while blue were for offshore. Though it’s a misleading claim, Costa spun this myth into a narrative that sold millions of sunglasses to uneducated buyers—a misconception that still prevails today.

 

 

Ever wondered what 580P means?  580 is yellow light in the color spectrum. Costa blocks yellow light from all of their lenses. Yellow is the most important color in seeing sand pockets and grass edges. 
 

Wanna-be Status 

This trend is common among young companies lacking innovation. Instead of investing in technology and creating unique products, they opt for superficial changes like sparkly mirror colors and claim to be "just as good as" the big brands. Once you understand that the conglomerates are a paper tiger using antiquated technologies that are manufactured in China, this wanna-be  tactic loses its appeal.  Often, these aspiring brands are run by former or disgruntled employees of the conglomerates.  By setting low goals, these brands need little and achieve little, aiming for short-term gains by sticking to commodity materials and low-tech methods—the conglomerate "formula"—in hopes of being attractive for a buyout.

 

Clearest lenses in the world with GLARE busting polarization! We block blue light and harsh yellow light just like Costa! - Actual Wanna-be

 

Anomolies - A new category of eyewear

In every industry, there will come a time when a startup will disrupt an industry by redefining the category. Red Bull did it when they decided not to compete in the Coke vs Pepsi soft drink wars and defined a new category of energy drinks.  Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, states that in today's market, we see “new technologies, new products, or new services that start small but eventually surpass established offerings in the current market.”

 

This has never been more evident than in the eyewear market. On the prescription side, Warby Parker has become Luxottica’s largest competitor, offering fashionable prescription eyewear.  In the sunlens market, Purpose Built Optics is taking on the conglomerates by using advancements in AI technology to create lenses that are engineered to improve sight in specific environments.  In a market where the anglers are looking for any advantage, the conglomerates have taken notice of PBO’s technical advancements.  While companies like Costa and Smith have not advanced their lens technology in decades, they have spooled up the marketing machine.  Said one Costa representative, “it is all we can get Italy to do at this point.”  

 

By engineering lenses that take into consideration environmental characteristics, PBO’s SpectraLoc technology goes far beyond the fashion of a lens or simply changing the amount of light that a lens lets in.  Each of their seventeen lenses is matched and refined to provide an unmistakable visual advantage.

 

The ability to clearly see my electronics from any angle in the boat,  reduced eye strain, and the incredibly light weight make these lenses are a game-changer.” - Steve Coleman, 8X National Champion

 

When PBO chose a lens material, their goals were crystal clear: it needed to be optically perfect without distortion, clearer than glass, and significantly lighter in weight. This led them to dismiss polycarbonate (plastic) and glass. They opted for an advanced nylon polymer instead, offering a sight picture clearer than glass and at a fraction of the weight.

 

Using AI Color Mapping technology, they are able to adjust the color balance. This is the science of intensifying and muting colors. The technology highlights the right colors while reducing color noise to give you a distinct advantage in different environments. Consider the environmental differences between fishing for a blue marlin in intensely clear blue water where the bottom is not in play vs fly fishing for rainbows on the Yellowstone river in Montana and you begin to understand the approach. It’s where science meets pursuit expertise, art, and thousands of hours in the field.

 

Ever wondered why some fish and animals are nearly invisible in their natural habitats? The secret lies in contrast. At its core, contrast is the difference between light and dark areas in your view. Too little, and the target blends into the background; too much, and details are lost. PBO has figured out how to manipulate contrast to reveal nature’s camouflage, exposing what's hidden from the naked eye.

 

I have been fishing my entire life and had no idea technical eyewear could be such an advantage.  I use several lenses that allow me to match the right one for specific types of fishing or in different environmental conditions.” - Brock Mosley Bassmaster Elite

 

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