In September 2025, Design Eyewear Group signed a distribution agreement with Mondottica covering Germany and Austria. Four licensed brands — Hackett London, Scotch & Soda, Pepe Jeans and Ted Baker London — join a portfolio that now spans 18 references. For a group that had until now distributed only its own brands, this marks a first.
What does the Design Eyewear Group × Mondottica agreement actually cover?
The deal covers two markets — Germany and Austria — and applies to four Mondottica-licensed brands: Hackett London, Scotch & Soda, Pepe Jeans and Ted Baker London. On the operational side, nothing needed to be built from scratch: customer service, sales, warehousing and logistics are handled entirely by Design Eyewear Group's existing organisation, running alongside its own house portfolio.
From Menrad to Mondottica: why the transition made sense
The agreement didn't come out of nowhere. In June 2025, Design Eyewear Group had already integrated parts of Menrad — a long-established German optical group that had previously managed Mondottica's activities in these markets, including logistics, the sales network and customer service. By absorbing that infrastructure, DEG inherited a well-mapped terrain — and a customer base already familiar with the brands.
Three months later, the formal agreement with Mondottica was simply formalising what operations had already begun. "The conditions were right: established relationships, known markets, a compelling business case. In a situation like that, taking the next step is the logical move," said Vincent Chamaillard, Europe Sales Director at Design Eyewear Group.
Hackett, Ted Baker, Scotch & Soda, Pepe Jeans: how much do these brands matter in eyewear?
The four brands entrusted to Design Eyewear Group cover a broad but coherent spectrum. Hackett London brings the codes of British tailoring to optical frames; Ted Baker London opts for a contemporary, effortlessly elegant aesthetic; Scotch & Soda channels a denim-born lifestyle sensibility; Pepe Jeans leans into streetwear, targeting a younger, urban customer.
All four are developed under licence by Mondottica, a British group specialised in creating optical and sun collections for fashion houses. That licensing model — managing a dozen brands simultaneously across Europe and Asia while preserving each one's distinct identity — is what defines Mondottica's expertise.
→ Read: Sandra Battistel at Mondottica — Vision and Design
A strategic exception, not a shift in direction
This agreement between Design Eyewear Group and Mondottica does not signal a new model. Mondottica handles its own distribution outside Germany and Austria, and Vincent Chamaillard is clear: no expansion is planned. For a group managing 18 house brands, distributing third-party labels is not a strategic priority — it is a one-off opportunity made possible by a rare alignment of favourable conditions.
The takeaway: four Mondottica brands are joining a commercial operation already well-established in Germany and Austria. DEG's identity hasn't changed — it has simply extended its footprint across terrain it already knows well.
→ Read: Design Eyewear Group — brands, collections, distribution
