EssilorLuxottica SA agreed to buy the streetwear label Supreme from VF Corp. for $1.5 billion in cash, adding another lifestyle brand to the French-Italian eyewear company’s stable that already includes Ray-Ban and Oakley.
Supreme was founded by James Jebbia in 1994 and started out selling t-shirts and clothes that targeted skateboarding and urban fashion trends. It has moved from being a cult favorite to a mainstream success and today it has an online business as well as 17 stores in the US, Asia and Europe.
EssilorLuxottica shares traded 2.5% lower early Wednesday in Milan, trimming their year-on-year gain to 11%.
Jebbia said he supports the sale to Essilor as it will allow Supreme to focus on its brand, products and customers. The US label is known for collaborations with the likes of Louis Vuitton and The North Face.
EssilorLuxottica was formed from the merger of two of Europe’s most prominent eyewear brands — Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor. It is a global leader in the production and sale of prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses and contact lenses.
Separately, EssilorLuxottica also said it was buying a majority stake of 80% in Heidelberg Engineering — a German company which specializes in diagnostic solutions, digital surgical technologies and health-care IT for clinical ophthalmology.
That agreement will boost EssilorLuxottica’s medical technology business, which sits alongside the fashion-focused arm selling sunglasses and accessories.