Daiso pushes, Meta pulls: eyewear emerges as fashion's next big thing

Eyewear is fast outgrowing its role as a vision-correction tool and establishing itself as a fashion staple — and the market is expanding rapidly to match. Prices range starkly, from budget-friendly brands priced around 30,000 won ($20) to AI smart glasses that cost upward of 700,000 won.

The low-end segment is being driven by fashion eyewear, according to industry sources Thursday. As more consumers swap out glasses and sunglasses to match their outfits or mood, demand for affordable options has grown — and foreign tourist spending is adding further fuel.

Doublelover is a prime example. The brand has built a following with frames priced at around 40,000 won. At a pop-up store it ran at Lotte World Mall in Jamsil through Tuesday, its initial stock sold out within three hours of opening. A collaboration piece with "Alpha Drive One," sold exclusively at the venue in limited quantities, has even found its way into the resale market. Starting Friday, the brand will open a pop-up store in Tokyo as it moves to tap the Japanese market.

The budget eyewear boom is also visible at Daiso. Sales in the discount retailer's glasses and sunglasses category jumped about 25 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year. As younger shoppers increasingly treat eyewear as a fashion accessory, the product lineup in that category has been steadily expanding.

At the premium end, smart sunglasses are driving growth. Equipped with features ranging from photo capture to voice recognition, they are finding an audience among consumers who enjoy cycling, running and other outdoor sports. Meta's smart sunglasses drew strong interest after the company opened a pop-up store at Shinsegae Duty Free. Gentle Monster is also set to launch intelligent glasses developed in collaboration with Google and Samsung Electronics this fall.

The broader eyewear market — spanning glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses — is growing across both online and offline channels. Searches for eyewear on Musinsa jumped 77 percent in June compared with a year earlier, and transactions for eyewear accessories such as glasses cases surged 491 percent over the same period. Duty-free stores tell a similar story: eyewear sales at Shinsegae Duty Free rose 15 percent year-on-year in April and May, while the eyewear category at Lotte Duty Free's Myeong-dong flagship posted roughly 50 percent growth in the second quarter compared with the same period last year.

"In the past, most consumers bought glasses purely for vision correction, but lately we're seeing more people purchase multiple pairs as fashion items or choose smart glasses to experience AI features," an industry official said. "With fashion and technology converging, the eyewear market's growth momentum should continue for now."