Safilo Group S.p.A announced that its license agreement for the Dior and Dior Homme collections of sunglasses and optical frames will end on Dec. 31, 2020.
In fiscal 2018, the Dior license accounted for roughly 13% of Safilo total sales, Safilo said in a press release.
That amounts to nearly $150 million based on Safilo’s 2018 revenue of $1.1 billion, The Fashion Law noted.
Safilo has been creating, producing and selling Christian Dior eyewear for over 20 years. It has sold more than 30 million pieces of Dior eyewear over that period, according to the release.
Reuters reported that Dior’s parent company, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is expected to place the license with its Marcolin joint venure.
Meanwhile, Safilo also announced that it had closed on the previously announced deal to sell U.S. retail chain Solstice to Fairway LLC.
Safilo CEO Angelo Trocchia said:
During two decades of the Dior eyewear license, Safilo has created collections that have made history in the eyewear sector. Our Company has 85 years of expertise, with a commitment to and passion for the industry which we are proud of. To build an even stronger Safilo for the future we are ready to continue leveraging on our human capital and the solid foundations of our attractive and balanced license portfolio, as well as our proprietary brands which are growing in line with our plan. We will fully focus on our unique creativity, technology skills and people to expand even further our brand portfolio, already enriched with the renewals of key brands such as kate spade new york, Tommy Hilfiger, havaianas, and Fossil, among others, and with the recently signed license agreements with Levi’s, Missoni, and David Beckham.
We remain fully committed to our 2020 Group Business Plan, aiming to reignite sales growth focusing on key geographies, brands and channels while recovering operating performance enabled by our cost reduction program. We are on track with our goals and will further accelerate our journey towards restoring an adequate and sustainable level of profitability by 2020 which will enable us to effectively manage this license exit.
Safilo said it will present a new group business plan by the end of 2019.