Thélios, LVMH Eyewear Excellence, and French luxury sunglasses house Vuarnet celebrated their partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympics with a two-day media event that showcased their shared values of craftsmanship and heritage.
The event underlined Vuarnet’s partnership with the sporting competition which saw the release of a limited-edition collection of official licensed eyewear products. The launch is part of a wider partnership between LVMH Group and the sporting competition.
As reported, Vuarnet was acquired by Thélios, LVMH Eyewear Excellence in 2023, making it the latter’s first proprietary brand. The French luxury outdoor sunglasses brand has a 60-year heritage and is renowned for pioneering mineral lenses.
Thélios designs, produces and distributes sunglasses and optical frames for some of the luxury powerhouse’s most prestigious maisons, including Dior, Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Loewe, Stella McCartney, Kenzo and Fred.
The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Director Hannah Tan was on location in Paris from 31 July to 1 August to celebrate the launch, which was attended by key media and top Thélios management including CEO Alessandro Zanardo and Chief Brand and Product Officer Sara Osculati.
In addition to Vuarnet, the celebrations highlighted how different LVMH maisons are supporting the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
The two-day event began with a lunch at the Dior Café in Avenue Montaigne, followed by a visit to the LVMH Paris Olympics 2024 Pavilion. It culminated with an Olympic beach volleyball match under the Eiffel Tower.
At the LVMH Pavilion, Louis Vuitton showcased the rare luxury leather trunks it has created for the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. Berluti exhibited the national costumes it crafted for French Olympic athletes and Chaumet showcased the craftsmanship involved in creating the Paris 2024 Olympic medals.
The centre of each medal has thus been cut from an authentic piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower, preserved during the renovation of the monument so each winning Olympic athlete can take a “a bit of Paris home with them”.
A dedicated room in the pavilion featured both new and archival versions of Christian Dior’s signature ‘New Look’ creations alongside dresses worn by performers during the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.
The Vuarnet x Paris Olympics 2024 range celebrates the highest level of sports innovation and features Vuarnet’s mineral gold glass senses. Noteworthy pieces include the Ice Round and Racing Regular models which feature black frames with gold accents.
In addition, Vuarnet released a new shape developed exclusively for the Olympic and Paralympic games, the Oracles. The style takes inspiration from the legend 06 and Glacier archival silhouettes and takes its name from Greek myths. The style features Vuarnet’s signature side shields and offers Category 3 protection. It is crafted with cutting-edge 3D printing technology.
In addition, media guests were some of the first to visit the newly inaugurated Thélios showroom in Paris, where they were able to discover the craftsmanship and lens technology of Vuarnet first-hand.
Zanardo commented: “When acquiring a brand, we are looking for something exceptional whether that be for the brand’s history or a specific technology or design. We also ensure that the brand does not in overlap with the rest of the maison we represent.
With the acquisition of Vuarnet and then Barton Perreira, we moved from a model where we were managing only LVMH-licensed brands such as Dior, Céline, Fendi, Givenchy and all those you see around in this showroom, to a model where we now have some proprietary brands. Our goal with this shift is to have a portfolio that is complementary.
“With Vuarnet and Barton Perreira, two pearls in the market, we have found these complementary values,” Zanardo added. “Last year has been a year of acquisition. This year is a year of integration and development. What we want to do with Vuarnet is to develop its capabilities and showcase its heritage now and in the future. In luxury eyewear, it all starts from the product and the quality of that product. In this way, we want to elevate eyewear into a true luxury category.”
Commenting on the importance of travel retail to Thélios, Zanardo said: “Travel retail is a growth channel for Thélios. We started to work seriously on it probably two years ago and the results have been very positive. Travel retail gives us the opportunity to express our brands and the organic offer we have to different consumers around the world. It’s not just a sales channel but a visibility channel for us.
“For us travel retail is a high traffic, high productivity channel. It is also a platform to show our point of view on what luxury eyewear is and elevate the category’s perception to consumers.”
As reported, Thélios recently partnered with Qatar Duty Free to unveil a luxury multi-brand eyewear concept at Hamad International Airport in Doha. The 45sq m boutique, situated on the luxury boulevard of Concourse B, features a curated selection of LVMH’s luxury eyewear brands including Dior, Fendi, Bulgari, Tag Heuer, Celine and Loewe.
The Vuarnet story: A legacy of innovationThe Vuarnet story began when French skier Jean Vuarnet won the gold medal in downhill skiing at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games, wearing the original Vuarnet 02 model. Vuarnet was a pioneer in the sport, introducing innovations such as the ‘egg’ or ‘tuck’ position and being the first to race on metal-edged skis. Vuarnet’s sunglasses were a gift from avant-garde optician Roger Pouilloux, who invented the Skilynx lens. This lens, designed specifically for snow, offers clarity, enhanced depth perception and extreme visual comfort even in white-out conditions.  Vuarnet’s Olympian spirit continued with its American debut as an Official Sponsor of the 1984 Summer Olympics. The phrase ‘It’s a Vuarnet day’ was coined by weathermen to describe the Vuarnet-clad crowd enjoying the Los Angeles sunshine during the Olympics. Over the years, Vuarnet has epitomised French style while maintaining its sporting heritage and savoir-faire. The production of mineral glass lenses at Vuarnet involves a week-long, 17-step process, from selecting the best raw materials to exclusive treatments and strict quality control. In 2017, Vuarnet earned the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company) label, a mark of recognition from the French State for excellence in traditional and industrial skills and crafts. ✈
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