Eyewear producer De Rigo’s revenue soars beyond €500 million

Italian eyewear producer De Rigo, founded in 1978 in Pozzale di Cadore and now based in Longarone, in the Veneto region, enjoyed a successful fiscal 2023. De Rigo recorded a consolidated revenue of €506 million, growing by €53.3 million over the €452.7 million generated in 2022, an 11.8% increase. The group’s growth was partly limited by the marked exchange rate fluctuations that occurred in some of the countries where De Rigo is operating. At constant exchange rates in fact, the group’s revenue growth over 2022 was 16.3%.

Revenue for De Rigo’s wholesale business grew by 16.8% to reach €279.1 million, well up on the €239 million generated in 2022. At constant exchange rates, the channel’s revenue growth was 20.1%.
 
The markets that contributed the most to De Rigo’s success were Italy, Turkey, Brazil, China and Spain. The high-end brands commercialised by De Rigo turned out to be strong growth drivers, accounting for two thirds of the group’s growth. Another driver was Police, an eyewear and lifestyle brand owned by De Rigo, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023 and whose range also includes fragrances, watches, jewellery, ready-to-wear and leather goods. In 2023, De Rigo acquired the Rodenstock group’s eyewear division, with the Porsche Design and Rodenstock brands. Their contribution to De Rigo’s performance was relatively limited, since the division was incorporated only in the second part of the year, and is instead likely to become an additional growth factor in fiscal 2024.

Revenue for De Rigo’s direct retail division grew by 6.5% to reach €242.6 million, an improvement on the €227.7 million generated in 2022. At constant exchange rates, the division’s revenue would have increased by 12%, but was held back by the weakness of the Turkish lira. The direct retail division’s revenue rise in 2023 was entirely organic, since De Rigo did not open any new store during the year. 

“We are very satisfied with the development of the group after the difficulties of the pandemic period, and we are encouraged into doing even better,” said in a press release Ennio De Rigo, president of the De Rigo group. “The investments carried out in the last two years have effectively contributed to sales. The growing number of conflicts in various areas of the world have made forecasting and planning international initiatives more complicated, and characterised by a high level of uncertainty. We are constantly trying to diversify as we expand globally, and this is enabling us to limit these events’ negative impact. Completing the integration of the Rodenstock Eyewear division and the expected growth in the medium-high market segment will be our main growth drivers in 2024,” added De Rigo.
 
The De Rigo group owns opticians’ chains General Optica (Spain), Mais Optica (Portugal), and Opmar Optik (Turkey), and has a stake in Boots Opticians (UK). Thanks to the De Rigo group’s extensive network of wholesalers, its products are available in over 100 countries, chiefly in Europe, Asia and the Americas, through 23 companies and a global network of independent distributors. The group currently has a commercial presence in all the world’s major markets, with its own brands Lozza, Police, Sting and Yalea, and with licensed brands Aramis, Barrow, Blumarine, Chopard, Diff Eyewear, Escada, Fila, Furla, Gap, John Varvatos, Jones New York, Just Cavalli, Lucky Brand, Mulberry, Nina Ricci, Philipp Plein, Plein Sport, Porsche Design, Roberto Cavalli, Rodenstock, Tous, Tumi, Twinset, Victor Hugo and Zadig & Voltaire.