It’s fresh eyes for Kendra Scott with the debut of the brand’s first eyewear collection, in partnership with Marchon, part of VSP Vision.

Known for her colorful jewelry and accessories built on her brand philosophy of family, fashion and philanthropy, Scott said the expansion into eyewear has been bubbling up for quite some time.

“There’s a picture of me in Hawaii in 2008 where I actually took one of our stones and I attached it onto the arm of my sunglasses to match what I was wearing on vacation,” she recalled. “Sunglasses are just another fabulous piece of jewelry.”

Scott founded her brand in 2002. Today she has carved out a unique space built around a customer base that spans generations. “If you go into any Kendra Scott store, you’re going to see every age group under the sun. We’ve built that trust over the last 23 years, and they are screaming for more,” the founder said. 

The launch rolls out with 15 sun styles, priced from $100 to $180, and 16 optical styles, priced from $118 to $190, each with unique design cues from the world of Kendra Scott.

“If a new brand comes into the category, it needs to be special,” explained Marchon global president and chief executive officer Thomas Burkhardt, adding that for Marchon to commit, the proposition had to stand out. “[It] immediately was clear that there’s so much to work with for us, both from a product side, but also from a brand side and the philanthropist side of the brand. We think this is going to be a meaningful addition to the category.”

Last January, Marchon entered an exclusive, long-term licensing agreement to manufacture and distribute the Kendra Scott eyewear range.

Scott’s brand comes with a built-in DNA on her custom shapes, color and innovative materials.

“These are things our customer recognizes and knows,” the founder said, and the two teams worked closely to help bring the core aesthetic of her world to the frames. “It was really collaborative,“ she added. “They really listened, not just to our design team, but they spent time in our stores. They really paid attention to our customer base.”

Originally the roll out was slated to be sun first but ophthalmic options quickly became a part of the conversation “I started thinking about my own personal journey, and I was almost legally blind in my right eye as a child; I remember going to the ophthalmologist. I remember trying to find frames that I liked that I felt beautiful in,” Scott said.

The Marchon CEO added, “It’s the most intimate accessory because that is the frame you wear on your face all day. I think bringing Kendra Scott to the optical category, with the richness of expression, I think will be very exciting for customers that already know and love the brand.”

The debut rolls out Monday with a campaign across store, print, digital ads and social media, featuring one sun style and one optical frame. Both are crafted in premium acetate and designed to honor the brand’s silhouettes with an “Elisa” acetate stone on the temple.

Beginning Sept. 10, the brand debuts at select optical retailers, department stores, Visionworks, Eyemart Express, Kendra Scott retail stores and online. “We really got an incredible buy in from virtually all the national large key accounts in the optical category,” Burkhardt said, noting brand debuts are typically slow to start, but not so with Kendra Scott. “It’s a big bang out of the gate.”

In Kendra Scott stores the roll out will incorporate a very serious topic for the Texas-based brand: football. “We are doing some really fun activations and events with some NFL and college football teams, including the University of Texas. When you’re sitting in those stadiums, you need those sunglasses,” Scott said.

Beyond the product, the two companies’ tenet to give back to the community also aligns. “We really overlap in our aspirations and our commitments in the philanthropic way Kendra does,” Burkhardt explained, which will lead to many community-based events.

The first will be on Sept. 12 with VSP Eyes of Hope partnering with the Kendra Scott Foundation’s Yellow Library program to provide no-cost eye care and eyewear to students who need them most alongside access to brand new books to encourage a lifelong love of reading. The event will take place at P.S. 132- Juan Pablo Duarte Elementary School in Manhattan.

For Marchon, Burkhardt admitted that the category is crowded, but he sees the addition of Kendra Scott bringing something new to the market. “I think it’s the relevance that Kendra has built with her brand. This is a brand that’s for the child, the mother, the grandmother, and this broad relevance in the engagement. That’s unique. I think that will translate so well into the category,” he said, adding that they have only scratched the surface of what is possible for the eyewear range moving forward.”

“There’s a lot of brands that try to become an overnight success,” Scott said. “They’ll just pop up on Instagram and maybe they’re selling a product, but they don’t have that legacy and trust. I think what sets us apart is that we have built true relationships and connections with our customers over the last 23 years. They trust our brand and that we’re going to create beautiful products that have high quality that are attainable for them.

“That is what our eyewear is,” she said.