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Fabris Lane’s contemporary stand at MIDO 2006 featured high-impact graphics for each of the company’s brands |
UK. Fabris Lane Ltd has signed a £9m licensing agreement with Fat Face to develop sunglasses and optical frames for the UK active lifestyle brand. The new branded eyewear will be available through Fat Face’s 139 stores worldwide as well as key tax free retailers.
The new men’s and women’s sunglasses collections will be launched in January 2008 and will comprise 25 lines, with new styles being introduced each season. The optical collection is due to be launched at MIDO 2008, the leading eyewear exhibition.
As with all Fat Face clothing, the design inspiration for the eyewear collections will come from Fat Face’s “Life is out there” active, outdoor philosophy. Fat Face produces clothing, footwear and accessories for men, women and children.
The licensing deal offers Fabris Lane a significant international opportunity to boost its export strategy, the eyewear company said.
Fat Face will form an important part of Fabris Lane’s strong portfolio of licence agreements with Ben Sherman, Karen Millen, Jigsaw, Nicole Farhi, French Connection and FCUK, which complement the self-owned Fabris Lane, M:UK, Freerange and Monkey Monkey brands.
Fat Face CEO Louise Barnes commented: “This deal represents the continuing success of our product development that remains key to our position as a lifestyle brand. We are excited to be adding sunglasses and optical frames to the ever-growing list of Fat Face kit, ensuring that our customers can enjoy the Fat Face lifestyle in every way. Fabris Lane Ltd’s extensive experience in this field will be invaluable in delivering innovative new ranges that reflect the Fat Face way of life.”
Fabris Lane Managing Director Rod Lane said: “We are looking forward to working with Fat Face, a dynamic brand that appeals to all the age groups, providing Fabris Lane with some real growth opportunities. This deal marks an important step in our export strategy and a fantastic new addition to our portfolio of licence agreements with some of the biggest brand names on the high street. We continue to pursue other lucrative brand opportunities, and expect some imminent further additions to our portfolio.”
About Fat Face
Fat Face is an active lifestyle brand that offers clothing for men, women and children as well as footwear, jewellery, Any Place (e.g. tents and beach kit), and accessories. The multi-channel brand has a network of stores, a mail order catalogue and a fully interactive website. Over the past five years Fat Face has achieved dynamic growth, having opened an average of 17 new stores a year; currently there are 139 stores worldwide. Fat Face was acquired by Bridgepoint in March 2007 for £360 million.
About Fabris Lane Ltd
Fabris Lane Ltd was established in 1982 by Rod Lane and Mario Fabris and is now the UK’s largest eyewear company. Fabris Lane produces five house collections: Fabris Lane, M :UK, Freerange Sports Optics, Monkey Monkey Kids sunglasses and 2WO Optics Reading Glasses. The firm also has an extensive licensed brands portfolio, specialising in developing eyewear collections for British fashion and sports lifestyle brands, including Ben Sherman, French Connection, Nicole Farhi, Jigsaw, Karen Millen, Red or Dead and Fat Face. Together with this branded business, Fabris Lane also produces private-label sunglasses collections for many high profile UK retailers such as Topshop, Boots, Next and Marks & Spencer. It produces over 4.5 million sunglasses each season at a retail value of over £85 million.
For details, contact Andy Lipscombe, Fabris Lane Ltd, Lion Park Avenue, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 1ST, UK, tel: +44 20 8974 1642, fax: +44 20 8974 1672, or e-mail andy.lipscombe@fabrislane.co.uk Visit www.fabrislane.com
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