Welcome back to Paradox Weekly, a Masters' Union newsletter, where we break down the ideas, trends, and contradictions shaping business today.

Before we dive into today’s topic, quick poll:

This week I want to talk about the company that makes your Ray-Bans and your Chanels from the same Italian factory.

But you’d yet pay multiples for Chanel's for the logo.

Think about it.

It operates about 18,000 retail stores globally, alongside hundreds of manufacturing and operations facilities, including Sunglass Hut and LensCrafters, and recorded €26.5 billion in 2024 revenue.

When CBS's 60 Minutes went inside Luxottica's Agordo factory, the reporter watched workers paint the Versace logo on one frame, then stitch leather for Chanel on the next. 

One after the other, on the same line.

E. Dean Butler founded LensCrafters, which is also now owned by Luxottica. 

He put the manufacturing cost of designer-quality frames at $15, sold to retail at $200 to $500, and called it "a complete rip-off."

Andrea Guerra, Luxottica's CEO at the time, gave the other side in one line: "Everything is worth what people are ready to pay."

I feel both are right.

Whether you think that's worth ₹50,000 is a separate question. Most people who buy Chanel have already answered it.

But Luxottica's revenue kept growing despite the 60 mins expose.

They own LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, Target Optical, and Glasses.com, as well as control a large share of the US prescription lens market.

And they own EyeMed, a vision insurance provider that covers over 50 million lives.

So when your employer gives you EyeMed vision coverage (in the US), with which you walk into LensCrafters to use it, pick out a pair of Prada frames, and feel good about using your benefits. 

You wouldn’t realize that they are all the same company.

Luxottica was on every side of that transaction.

At Masters' Union I use this to ask students one question: where does the brand end and the distribution begin?

Most of them can't answer it.

With Luxottica, I'm not sure anyone can.

Ray-Ban dates to the 1930s. It was worn by the US military pilots, and actors like James Dean. 

By the time Luxottica acquired the brand from Bausch + Lomb in 1999, it already had more than 60 years of cultural weight behind it.

Chanel asked Luxottica to manufacture frames for a brand that already existed for decades.

The factory came last.

I speak to D2C founders constantly. 

When I discuss this model with them, almost all look at the Luxottica model and take away that they should centralise manufacturing, build the logo, and run ads.

But Luxottica just acquired stories that already existed and then built infrastructure around it.

You can launch a skincare brand in India for ₹5 to 10 lakh, have the same factory access as your competitor with the same formulations.

In about four to six weeks and you're live.

On the surface it looks exactly like the Luxottica model, except they had 60 years of story before they centralised the production. 

Indian founders are trying to build the story and the brand simultaneously, with a 3-year runway and an investor asking about year-two growth.

Chanel had the luxury of time that most Indian D2C founders don't.

EssilorLuxottica controls 25 to 30% of global eyewear value sales. That number is the result of six decades of brand building, then vertical integration, then distribution ownership. In that order.

Most Indian founders are trying to do all three simultaneously and calling it a brand.

Push out a lot of content with great storytelling, see what clicks, and double down on the audience it resonates with. Content is easier to produce now, so reach no longer requires a massive effort.

For those thinking which Indian brand did this well, think Minimalist.

They spent five years on radical ingredient transparency before HUL paid ₹2,955 crore for 90.5% of the company (yes five years only).

They’re known for the packaging (not formulation).

Only What’s Needed and The Whole Truth Foods seem to be going in a similar direction.

TLDR: We have 800 Instagram accounts selling the same 12 formulations, hoping the story catches before the money runs out. Think who the category winners are and think how they’re different / why you choose them.

Is there a brand in your life that only works because most people can’t afford it?

I read every email.

Until next week,
Pratham