Balenciaga, Safilo sign licensing agreement

Balenciaga and Safilo have already collaborated to develop eyewear styles for Balenciaga's spring-summer 2007 fashion show. The initial collection featured women's sunglasses, two of which were developed specifically for the fashion show while the third was a rerelease of vintage 1970s Balenciaga eyewear.

The license formalizes their partnership with plans to launch a full line of sunglasses starting in autumn 2007, with optical frames to follow.

Isabelle Guichot, president and chief executive officer, Balenciaga, noted: "We have been delighted by the quality and constructiveness of our collaboration with Safilo. We look forward to consolidating the partnership among our creativity, the very high quality of Safilo's products, and the clear selectivity of their distribution."