Innovative Eyewear Licenses Eddie Bauer Brand for Smart Glasses

Innovative Eyewear has licensed the Eddie Bauer brand for smart glasses.

The developer and retailer of smart eyewear said in a Wednesday (Dec. 28) press release that it has licensed the outdoor brand through a multi-year, global agreement with Authentic Brands Group and that it expects to launch the Eddie Bauer smart eyewear collection in 2023.

“Our Eddie Bauer smart eyewear collection, powered by Lucyd, will continue Eddie Bauer’s legacy of bold and beautiful craftsmanship, coupled with innovation, and will align perfectly with today’s adventurous lifestyles,” Innovative Eyewear CEO Harrison Gross said in the release. “We believe outdoor enthusiasts are looking for designer eyewear that both protects their vision and allows them to remain connected to their digital lives in an open-ear, handsfree format.”

As PYMNTS has reported, smart glasses are making a return in a big way after Google’s misfire with the product a decade ago.

For example, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg teased a smart glasses project in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica in May that aims to create a wristband to control augmented reality (AR) glasses and let users interact with the virtual world with finger movements.

Similarly, T-Mobile has launched a program that provides resources to select developers to speed the creation of immersive 5G powered AR experiences for smart glasses.

“Smart glasses will completely change how we connect and experience the world around us,” John Saw, executive vice president of advanced and emerging technologies at T-Mobile, said when announcing the program in May.

With the deal announced Wednesday, the Eddie Bauer brand joins the Lucyd and Nautica brands already offered by Innovative Eyewear. The smart eyewear firm’s products include prescription eyewear and sun protection while also enabling users to stay connected to their digital lives and addressing users’ optical, hearables and digital assistant needs, according to the Innovative Eyewear website.

The Eddie Bauer brand, which has registered dozens of patents on outdoor clothing and sporting equipment since developing the quilted goose-down insulated jacket in 1942, will help Innovative Eyewear better appeal to the outdoor recreation market, according to the press release.

“Eddie Bauer is known for delivering innovation across all of its product categories,” Henry Stupp, president of lifestyle EMEA-India at Authentic Brands Group, said in the release. “Through Lucyd’s Bluetooth technology, we reinforce the brand’s standards in this emerging category.”

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