Persol launches first collaboration in fifty years with A.P.C.

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Feb 10, 2020

Italian luxury eyewear brand Persol is entering its first collaboration in fifty years with French ready-to-wear brand A.P.C. for the Spring/Summer 2020 season. 

Together, Persol and A.P.C. developed three color variants of Persol's 649 model, an eyewear design originally developed in 1957 for tram-drivers in Torino, Italy. Later, the silhouette would go on to gain cult appeal when beloved Italian actor, Marcello Mastroianni, wore them in the movie 'Divorce, Italian Style' in 1961. 

The three Persol x A.P.C. models come in transparent brown, matte white and transparent green frames, and retail for $370. At first launch, the glasses are available online at persol.com. 

The collaboration's campaign was shot by Sam Rock at the A.P.C. headquarters featuring A.P.C. founder, Jean Touitou; musician Sky Ferreira; and singer Joseph Mount, from the band Metronomy. 

Under parent company EssilorLuxottica, Persol has experienced some key moments of growth within the past year, having opened its premiere New York boutique --marking the third Persol boutique globally -- in November of 2019. 

In August, sources said that EssilorLuxottica, which also owns eyewear brands Ray-Ban, Oakley and Oliver Peoples, had become the target of Third Point LLC, the U.S. hedge fund that has pushed for changes at various companies, ranging from Nestle SA to Campbell Soup Co.

According to people familiar with the matter, Third Point had amassed a stake in the eyewear company, as internal struggle continues between France’s Essilor and Italy’s Luxottica, which merged to form EssilorLuxottica in mid-2019.