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Eyewear has evolved from a mere functional product to a most efficient collaboration medium in fashion. According to Grand View Research, the global eyewear market revenue was $200,46 billion in 2024 and is forecasted to reach $335,90 billion by 2030.
For fashion labels, eyewear gives three advantages: faster product cycles, comparatively low production risk, attraction on both sides of the consumers, and finally, the highest visibility on the customers’ faces, outperforming footwear and bags in daily wear. The collaborations have positioned eyewear as the amplifier of the brand narrative, a signal in trend and culture, as well as a technological approach.
Gentle Monster’s Cultural Objects and Oakley’s Fashion Renaissance
Gentle Monster has repositioned eyewear as a cultural artefact instead of a simple product. Its collaborations have spanned pop culture, avant-garde fashion, and experimental design, each serving a unique strategic function. Partnerships with Mugler (2024), Fendi (2019), Ambush (2019), Maison Martin Margiela (2025), and D’heygere (2023) positioned eyewear as a conceptual and sculptural product in runway style.
Whereas the collaboration with Bratz (2025) showcases how the eyewear can be both functional and pop-cultural, tapping Gen Z’s nostalgia and internet-specific aesthetics. However, Gentle Monster’s involvement with Google × Kering Eyewear (2025) signalled a strong interface for technology through fashion.
Once defined by sport and performance, Oakley went through a deliberate repositioning with fashion-led collaborations. Instead of abandoning its technical and functional DNA, Oakley has reframed it with streetwear, luxury fashion, and subcultural themes.
Its partnerships with Miu Miu (2025), Fragment Design (2023), Bodega (2023), Palace Skateboards (2023-2024), Junya Watanabe (2024), Satisfy (2023-2025), Pas Normal Studios (2024), Piet (2022-2024), Daily Paper (2025), Albino & Preto (2025, announcement) and Swarovski (2025) reveals a layered strategy to position Oakley as both functional and fashion statement.
Quiet Luxury, Heritage, and Authority
At the other end of the spectrum, eyewear is more like an understated luxury. Oliver Peoples' collaborations with Brunello Cucinelli (2021) and Khaite (2023) focus on proportion, materiality, and discretion. Similarly, Linda Farrow x COS (2023) showcases modernistic design with accessible luxury positioning.
Several partnerships fronted specialist credibility and heritage instead of a trend-driven approach. Randolph USA’s collaboration with Alpha Industries (2023), Todd Snyder (2024), The Brooklyn Circus (2025), W’menswear (2025), and Junya Watanabe (2023) roots eyewear in provenance and authenticity. Morgenthal Frederics’ partnership with Sabyasachi (2023) displayed how eyewear can translate culturally specific style into a globally accepted luxury accessory.
Smart Glasses and Emerging Labels’ Collaborations
Eyewear did not just stick to function and fashion. It became a new technical infrastructure. The collaboration between Coperni and Ray-Ban Meta (2025) positioned eyewear as the wearable tech platform combined in the fashion-week aesthetic. Meanwhile, Saint Laurent x Ray-Ban (2024) shows how heritage eyewear silhouettes can make refreshing takes without complicating the technology.
For contemporary and emerging fashion labels, eyewear partnerships function as efficient brand extensions. Collaborations like LoveShackFancy × Krewe du optic (2025), H&M × CHIMI (2020), PinqPonq × Andy Wolf (2019), Adanola × Lexxola (2025), and Moose Knuckles × Bollé (2024) demonstrate how eyewear enables rapid expansion in the category.
What These Collaborations Reveal
These partnerships reveal that eyewear has become the most versatile collaborative approach in fashion that can be carried as avant-garde experimentation, quiet luxury signals, performance credibility, and technological ambition simultaneously. Unlike handbags or footwear, the eyewear partnerships don’t demand a seasonal reinvention of the core brand values. Instead, they enable brands to signal cultural relevance, experiment with future-facing technologies at relatively low risk, and test new audiences. As the smart glasses are gaining traction and luxury consumers are continuing to prioritise expressive yet functional accessories, eyewear is at the center stage of how the fashion labels communicate their identity in the coming future.
Cover Image: Gentle Monster site.