Columbia Sportswear assigns global eyewear licence to Marchon

By

Gianluca Bolelli

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
May 24, 2016

Marchon Eyewear has signed a global licence agreement for the production and distribution of Columbia Sportswear's eyeglasses and sunglasses collections. Columbia was founded in 1938 and is a manufacturer of outdoor sports apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment.

Columbia's first eyeglasses and sunglasses collection will be launched globally in September 2016. It will also include a performance sunglasses line for fishing, labelled Columbia PFG (Performance Fishing Gear).

The collections will be available at Columbia stores, at top sporting goods stores and in a selected network of opticians worldwide.

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"The agreement with Columbia further expands our Sport/Performance division," said Claudio Gottardi, Marchon Eyewear's CEO.

"Our joint objective," said Matt Merriman, Columbia Sportswear's Director of Licensing, "is to offer an innovative eyewear line, capable of enhancing our customers' outdoors experience, whether on the water, on mountain tracks or in the city."

US group Marchon Eyewear manufactures and distributes globally both sunglasses and eyeglasses. Owned since 2008 by US group VSP, Marchon is the world's third-largest eyewear manufacturer, producing and distributing under licence for brands such as Calvin Klein Collection, Calvin Klein Platinum, Calvin Klein Jeans, Chloé, Columbia Sportswear, Diane von Furstenberg, Dragon, Etro, Flexon, G-Star RAW, Karl Lagerfeld, Lacoste, Liu Jo, Marchon NYC, Marni, MCM, Nautica, Nike, Nine West, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sean John and Skaga. Marchon serves more than 80,000 clients in over 100 countries.