Steven Alan Renews Eponym Licensing Agreement

"Steven Alan has renewed its eyewear licensing agreement with Eponym, to design, produce and distribute its optical and sunglass designs through March 2021," according to WWD. "The brand first launched its eyewear program in partnership with Eponym in 2013. The label says that its eyewear sales have doubled each year throughout their initial three-year contract. In 2015, Eponym opened two Steven Alan Optical brick-and-mortar units in New York. As part of this renewed agreement, Eponym has agreed to open between five and 10 more stores in the next five years. The first in this grouping will be a West Village location in Manhattan, to open in April." Read more.

New Company Offering New Brands of Eyewear

“When looking at disruption in the eyewear space, most people talk about Warby Parker. That is because Warby Parker is cutting out the middleman and selling eyewear directly to consumers. However, there is a new disruptor in town and its name is Eponym,” goes the Forbes post. “When Richard Ray Ruiz and Andrew Lipovsky were starting their company, Eponym, they realized that all of their favorite brands didn’t make eyewear. Brands like Steven Alan, Rag & Bone, Band of Outsiders and Theory were among of their favorites, but eyewear made by these brands were nowhere in sight.” Read more.

Media Jobs reports that “Eponym’s platform-based business model has been a rip-roaring success. Lipovsky says that revenues are now expanding at a rate of 50 percent a month and promises the launch of ‘some exciting new things in the near future.’ One reason, no doubt, why it recently clinched a $1 million seed-funding round, with angel investors almost falling over themselves to participate, amongst them Garry Tan (the founder of Posterous and Y-Combinator partner), Loopt’s co-founder, Sam Altman, and Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian.” Read more.