The pair of glasses that was "promoted" by the French president has gone bankrupt
The glasses once used by the President of France have gone bankrupt.
Recently, the French Commercial Court rejected the restructuring plan proposed by Dalloz Creations and announced that the company has entered the liquidation process. All the company's commercial assets have been put up for online auction, and all 29 employees will be unemployed.
It has only been about a year from the moment when President Macron wearing the glasses caught the world's attention to the company's bankruptcy announcement. This French old - factory, established in 1957 and having been deeply involved in high - end sunglasses lenses for nearly 70 years, failed to wait for the day when the online popularity would turn into orders. Its downfall is a microcosm of the long - term pressure on France's traditional precision manufacturing industry in the wave of global industrial migration, and also a real footnote to the insurmountable wall between online popularity and manufacturing. The industry behind it is quietly moving towards a new pattern under the multiple waves of vertical integration by luxury giants, the accelerated entry of smart glasses, and the re - evaluation of the value of origin brands.
Endorsed by the President
Even with the President's personal "endorsement", the company couldn't avoid the fate of bankruptcy.
In January this year, due to eye bleeding, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared in public wearing sunglasses for two consecutive weeks. At events such as the Davos Forum, diplomatic meetings, and press conferences, those pilot - style sunglasses almost became the most frequently - seen political accessory under the international media's lenses during that period. Donald Trump joked on social media about Macron being like Maverick in Top Gun. Some people in France also compared Macron's headshot with Hollywood movie posters, making quite a stir. Foreign media soon discovered the origin of these glasses. The frames were made by the French veteran manufacturer Henry Julien, and the lenses were from a small French company named Dalloz Creations, located in the small town of Saint - Claude in the Jura department of France. After the news spread, Henry Julien received a lot of business consultation calls, and inquiries for orders poured in. The brand's popularity spread from France to the international stage overnight. Dalloz Creations also got a chance to be in the international media spotlight, and the company said it was very proud that its products could reach the international stage.
Unfortunately, this pride didn't last long.
Recently, the French Commercial Court rejected the restructuring plan proposed by Dalloz Creations and announced that the company has entered the liquidation process. All the company's commercial assets have been put up for online auction, and all 29 employees will be laid off. It has only been about half a year from the moment when Macron wearing the glasses caught the world's attention to the company's bankruptcy liquidation announcement. An accidental exposure at the presidential level didn't change the company's development trajectory and left no trace on the financial statements.
The story of Dalloz Creations is full of French - style tragedy from beginning to end. The company was established in 1957 and has been rooted in the small town of Saint - Claude, which is closely related to glasses manufacturing, for nearly 70 years. Its main business is the research and manufacturing of high - end sunglasses lenses. Seventy years is not a short time. It represents the hand - made craftsmanship passed down through generations of workers, the company's former position in the European high - end lens supply chain, and the inseparable bond between the city of Saint - Claude and the glasses manufacturing industry.
A Representative of a Small City and an Industry
To understand the situation of Dalloz Creations, we must first understand what kind of city Saint - Claude is.
Located in the mountains of the Jura department in France, Saint - Claude is not a large city, but it still holds a place in the European manufacturing map. It is a very important historical production area in the French glasses manufacturing industry. In the 19th century, local craftsmen developed a set of delicate handicraft - making techniques relying on the rich boxwood resources in the mountains. All parts such as frames, lenses, and accessories have been produced in this mountain area for nearly 200 years. At its peak, Saint - Claude and its surrounding areas were home to a large number of glasses manufacturers. It is one of the regions with the deepest craftsmanship among similar production areas in Europe, and thus earned the title of "the Glasses Capital of France". Dalloz Creations was established in 1957 when the city's manufacturing industry was at its most active, and its emergence was a product of that era.
However, times have changed, and the industrial focus has also shifted.
Since the 1980s and 1990s, the global production center of the glasses manufacturing industry has been accelerating its shift to Asia. Danyang City in Jiangsu Province, China, has gradually risen in this process and has now become one of the world's largest glasses production bases. According to relevant data, Chinese - made glasses products account for more than half of the global total, and the annual output of lenses produced in the Danyang area also accounts for a significant part of the global supply.
At the same time, international lens giants such as Essilor and Carl Zeiss, which have strong capital and technological backing, are constantly strengthening their leading positions in the global lens supply chain through mergers and acquisitions. Caught between these two forces, small manufacturers in traditional European production areas, which are small - scale, have few customers, and have weak bargaining power, are facing an increasingly difficult situation. The French glasses industry has gone through a process from prosperity to slow decline. An entrepreneur who has in - depth research on the French glasses industry described this phenomenon in very straightforward terms: "Currently, there are very few professional talents engaged in glasses manufacturing in France." In this process, the city of Saint - Claude has gradually lost its former manufacturing glory.
Dalloz Creations is not the only enterprise in Saint - Claude struggling under such pressure, but the difficulties it faces are common to all similar enterprises. The company mainly produces high - end sunglasses lenses and follows the path of precision manufacturing. It doesn't compete on price but hopes to maintain a certain difference in terms of craftsmanship and quality. Logically, this positioning is correct because there is a demand for high - end customized lenses in the European market, and some luxury brands and professional glasses dealers are also willing to pay a higher price for the local supply chain. However, since the demand is not large, the number of customers it can serve is also small. Once the demand of several major customers changes, the company's cash flow will be immediately affected. With a scale of 29 people, the company has almost no buffer space for external fluctuations. If the revenue drops slightly, the pressure of fixed costs will be magnified exponentially.
From 2023 to 2025, the company's turnover in three years almost halved. It's not because of some earth - shattering events, but due to the gradually decreasing market demand, increasingly fierce competition, and stagnant costs. The "warm - water" pressure is more difficult to bear than a sudden shock because the former doesn't create a sense of crisis, while the latter will continuously compress the enterprise's survival space until one day a restructuring plan is submitted and the court gives a negative result.
The story of Dalloz Creations is a chapter in the history of manufacturing and also a chapter that the city of Saint - Claude has to say goodbye to. The craftsmanship passed down in the mountain workshops will gradually disappear from the industry after the last batch of workers leave the workshop.
After the Online Popularity, Will Anyone Redefine This Business?
The market demand for sunglasses has always been high.
The boom in outdoor sports is growing, the awareness of healthy eye protection is spreading more widely around the world, and the penetration rate of fashion consumption among young people is also increasing. The superposition of these demand factors provides a relatively stable foundation for the growth of the entire sunglasses market. The demand side has never been the problem. What has really changed is the internal competition rules and value - distribution methods of this business. The end of Dalloz Creations marks the end of an old era, but the industry after it is developing simultaneously on several new logical lines.
At the same time, consumers' purchasing behavior has also begun to change. When the new generation of consumers choose sunglasses, they don't only look at the sun - protection effect or brand logo. They also consider whether there is a story behind the product, whether the origin of the craftsmanship is real and tangible, and whether it has a unique charm different from mass - produced products. In this way, those small - scale European manufacturers with a long history and traditional hand - made techniques will get new development opportunities. Some traditional glasses production areas in France and Italy have started to brand their production areas, promoting the manufacturing location itself as a selling point of the product and publicizing geographical indications and craftsmanship stories as quantifiable added values. In the future, the name of Saint - Claude may also become a symbol of quality, just like the Champagne region for sparkling wine and Munich for beer. The origin itself is an irreplaceable competitive advantage. Although this path is not easy, as consumers are becoming more and more averse to homogeneous industrial products, in such a market environment, the craftsmanship narrative with a real foundation is slowly regaining its proper market position.
In terms of technology, the upgrade window for the sunglasses industry is very clear. The replacement speed of functional lenses is getting faster and faster. Technologies such as color - changing, anti - blue - light, polarized, and anti - fog for sports, which were once only available in high - end customized products, are now gradually penetrating into products at various price ranges, allowing more consumers to enjoy real protection at a reasonable price. It's worth noting that the development speed of the smart glasses track is also accelerating. The sales volume of Meta's Ray - Ban smart glasses series has exceeded market expectations several times, proving that consumers are willing to pay for "wearable and useful" smart wearable products. Sunglasses have incomparable advantages over other smart hardware categories in terms of appearance acceptance and daily - life wearing scenarios. If this direction can really be realized, the product definition, pricing logic, and user stickiness of the entire industry will change dramatically. Sunglasses will no longer be just a sun - shading tool or a fashion accessory but will become a multi - functional entrance that includes health management and information exchange.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Rongzhong Finance” (ID: thecapital). The author is Lü Jingzhi, and it is published by 36Kr with authorization.