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New Guards Group debuts at Mido trade show with eyewear collections
New Guards Group is striding ahead in the world of eyewear. Two years after setting up a dedicated division, the Italian fashion group, controlled by e-tail giant Farfetch, has debuted at the Mido eyewear show in Milan with collections by four of its leading labels: Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, Off-White, Palm Angels and Ambush.
“Our journey in the eyewear category began two years ago, with the ambition of designing and developing our labels’ collections in-house. In a short space of time, we have been able to set up our own dedicated business unit, a powerful engine within the New Guards Group whose results have had both a cultural and entrepreneurial impact. I am proud of our growth, and of having brought about significant change in a highly competitive landscape. Eyewear is a category I firmly believe in, one that we as a company will continue to invest in and promote in the future,” said Davide De Giglio, co-founder, president and CEO of New Guards Group (NGG).
The group launched the eyewear category in January 2021 with in-house designed sunglasses by Off-White and Palm Angels, while collections by Marcelo Burlon County of Milan and Ambush will be added for next winter. Ultimately, NGG is aiming to develop eyewear collections for all its brands, which also include Heron Preston, Alanui, Peggy Gou and Opening Ceremony.
The collections are designed at the Milanese offices of NGG’s creative department, and are distributed via each label's monobrand stores, their official e-shops and selected opticians and retail partners around the world. Genderless sunglasses are the main product. Off-White is the only NGG label featuring a selection of eyeglasses models, soon to be joined by Palm Angels, which is also working on the same line extension.
The shapes and silhouettes for the coming winter, presented at Mido on February 4-6 2023, are typical of each label’s style codes: from Off-White’s bold, unexpected avant-gardism to Palm Angels’s California inspirations mixed with geometric patterns, from the blend of South American tribal symbolism and aesthetic distortions typical of Marcelo Burlon County of Milan to Ambush’s reinterpretation of the pared-down lines of Tokyo’s signature aesthetic.
NGG’s decision to internalise the eyewear business replicates the approach adopted by major luxury names. Kering blazed the trail in 2017 by setting up Kering Eyewear, and LVMH soon followed suit by creating Thélios as a joint venture with Italian producer Marcolin, taking full control of it at the end of 2021.
NGG was founded in 2016 by Davide de Giglio and Marcelo Burlon. In 2019, British-Portuguese e-tail giant Farfetch bought a controlling stake in the group for $675 million (approximately €603 million).
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