Down Under challenge to glasses giant

A new glasses company has positioned itself at the bottom end of the market in an industry it describes as ‘‘broken’’.

Offering just one frame shape, Dresden Vision accepts it is a bit different.

Dresden Vision New Zealand general manager Matt Martel said the company was born out of frustration with the current business model.

‘‘[The founders] thought that the industry was a little bit broken, which it is,’’ Martel said.

An estimated 70 per cent of the global optometry market is dominated by a single company, EssilorLuxottica, based in France.

Locally, the company’s stable included OPSM, Budget Eyewear, Oakley and Sunglass Hut.

‘‘They are the ones who turned a medical necessity into a fashion statement and introduced the idea of $1000 glasses,’’ Martel said. ‘‘Our glasses are $63. Prices go up if you need an expensive lens but we are in the lower end of the market.’’

A 2017 Consumer NZ study found paying for more expensive glasses may not mean you get a better class of glasses.

‘‘The manufacturing of frames and lenses is dominated by a few major international companies,’’ the report said. ‘‘Some of the companies that make designer brands also make non-designer specs to the same standards.’’

Dresden’s frames, arms and pins are all made from plastic and are produced in a closed-loop production process that included recycled materials, Martel said.

An initial optometrist appointment Dresden Vision in Auckland costs $75.

The price for glasses starts at $63 while glasses with multifocal lenses cost up to $439.

Interchangeable arms or frames can be bought for $25.

Martel said the company did not view Specsavers or OPSM as competitors as they were offering a different product.

Glasses from Specsavers start at $69, though the 2017 Consumer NZ study found most of its range costs between $299 and $499. Eye tests at Specsavers cost $60. Since opening in Sydney in 2014, Dresden Vision has expanded to 10 stores in Australia, two in Canada and a second store has opened in central Auckland.

The company’s long-term growth strategy includes a mobile trailer that could bring glasses to regions without easy access to optometry services.

Martel said the company was selling a pair of glasses every two minutes.

The focus of the company was to reset optometry back 40 years when glasses were affordable.

‘‘Glasses aren’t rocket science, they’re just plastic,’’ he said.

‘‘Glasses aren’t rocket science, they’re just plastic.’’

Matt Martel

Dresden Vision New Zealand at