What's going on behind the violent _earthquake_ in the luxury eyewear market_ LONDON, United Kingdom 鈥_x94 LVMH signed a

What's going on behind the violent "earthquake" in the luxury eyewear market? LONDON, United Kingdom 鈥?LVMH signed an agreement on Wednesday to establish a joint venture with Italian eyewear maker Marcolin as part of a long-term strategy aimed at tightening control over licensed brands. LVMH's acquisition of a 10% stake in Marcolin follows a series of events that reflect the ongoing restructuring of the global eyewear market.

The global eyewear market, which includes frames, contact lenses and sunglasses, was valued at $90.3 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $140 billion by 2020. The growing demand is driven by a growing middle class, which is more likely to spend its disposable income on entry-level luxuries like eyewear.

For the global luxury group, this also represents an opportunity to further expand its offerings to a wider consumer network that LVMH and Kering are clearly looking to further control.

Luca Solca, Head of Luxury Goods at Exane BNP Paribas, said: "Eyewear is an interesting category because it is absolutely affordable in terms of price and works closely with middle-class consumers to drive luxury growth forward." "There's also a risk that this places a heavy burden on net liquidity, and in many cases dilutes the return on invested capital 鈥?at least over a transition period of a few years." But if LVMH's long-term goal is to take full control of its eyewear business, there are still hurdles ahead.

The merger of Luxottica and Essilor may indicate that the market will see more consolidation between smaller businesses in the future. "The main player in this process is Luxottica. I also see opportunities for further consolidation," Ortelli said, "So far, Luxottica and Essilor have been 'outsiders'.

It remains to be seen whether there will be further consolidation among smaller market players to bring a second market winner. The merger, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, will add another special dimension to the structure of the global eyewear market, leading to the creation of a global eyewear giant with significant distribution and manufacturing capabilities that LVMH has long been unable to rival Kering.

"There's a trend right now that luxury companies tend to limit and control their brand licensing business and products as much as possible," says Ortelli, "and I think the biggest hurdle at the moment is distribution, because product distribution means you need to have a platform like a 'capillary' with thousands of points of sale around the world. "It's a complex and expensive platform to manage," Ortelli adds, "and now Luxottica has one of the largest platforms of its kind." This article is from China Fashion Network, slightly modified,