Stuart Weitzman is jumping into the eyewear game with a debut optical collection — produced and distributed by Safilo Group — for fall 2024, with sunglasses to follow in spring 2025.
“For designing Stuart Weitzman’s first eyewear collection the team wanted to really dig into the brand’s DNA and draw inspiration from the signature details they’ve mastered across their shoes and handbags,” said Vladimiro Baldin, Safilo’s chief license brands and global product officer. “The 5050 boots, which are iconic for the brand, became a major source of inspiration. You can see its influence in the hardware of the frames, the way materials are combined, and the color schemes we’ve explored.”
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Launching with 24 optical styles, the range’s designs include innovative mixed materials, polished minimalism and hints of embellishments like pearls and crystals, coming from the DNA of the footwear brand.
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“What we love about Stuart Weitzman’s collections is the contrast between the clean, sophisticated styles and their more glamorous, embellished pieces for special occasions,” Baldin said. “This juxtaposition gave us so much to work with. The way they play with pearls and crystals, for example, sparked the idea behind some of our more ornate and detailed eyewear designs.”
Global brand ambassador Issa Rae fronts the campaign heralding the debut in a series of black-and-white imagery lensed by photographer Ned Rogers. “I’m delighted to expand my partnership with Stuart Weitzman as the face of its first eyewear collection,” Rae said in a statement. “I’ve been wearing glasses for most of my life, and I know what I like — styles that are sharp, sophisticated, stylish and comfortable to wear. That’s what Stuart Weitzman’s shoes are known for, and this optical collection has all the same qualities.”
Rae is part of Weitzman’s latest cast of global brand ambassadors selected, according to the brand, for her strength and confidence. She appears in the brand’s new campaign, “How Lovely to Be a Woman,” which premiered Sept 4. Rae is a writer, actor, producer and businesswoman best known for co-creating and starring in “Insecure,” for which she earned a Peabody Trailblazer Award.
Named “The Modern Mogul” by the brand, Weitzman said she represents a woman who stands strong against challenges, breaks barriers and expands into new industries, all while using her platform to uplift the Black and brown communities and advancing representation both in media and in business. “I believe in the mantra, ‘Give to the world your best and the best will come back to you,’” Rae said. “Prioritizing and building my community and opening doors for others to do the same is very important to me.”
The new optical range is priced at $330 with shapes including a mix of cat-eyes, oversize, large butterfly, square and more. The sun range comes to market in spring 2025 and will continue to mine the footwear’s design inspirations.
“For the sun collection launching in 2025, we leaned even further into the 5050 aesthetic, especially in the details. Our artisans crafted in our Italian atelier custom hinges and wire cores that echo the boot’s hardware, and we incorporated mixed textures and colorblocking, all of which ties back to that iconic design,” Baldin said.
The brand expansion comes amid reports that Tapestry Inc., Stuart Weitzman’s parent, is looking to sell the company and confirmation that its chief executive officer, Giorgio Sarné, has departed. He is said to be joining Montblanc as CEO.