What happened
: Could smart glasses make a comeback and possibly replace headphones? South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster and Chinese tech company Huawei think so. After the first generation of their smart glasses collaboration launched last September, the second series is hitting the market on September 10 with ten styles of optical frames and four styles of sunglasses.
Users can listen to music, take calls, or ask their smart assistant to look up information with a tap or swipe on the temples of the glasses. The series’ simple design is made for everyday wear, Gentle Monster’s China CEO Jeff Wang told Jing Daily. “Smart glasses used to be very far from people’s lives, it might be a cool concept, but very few have really worn them,” he said. “But, we want the general public to experience this product.”
Jing Take#
: The wearable tech market is booming, but not many brands have tapped into its potential over the last two years. Working with Huawei, the wearable tech leader in China with an impressive 29.9-percent market share, is a novel and smart move for Gentle Monster. That’s especially true, given that the world’s largest wearable tech player, Apple, is being rumored to launch Apple Glass this year. The category has the potential to grow, too, as wearable tech is predominantly headphones and watches as of today.
Doing a frontier crossover with a tech company takes vision and interdisciplinary know-how. Before joining Gentle Monster in 2018 and spearheading the initial collaboration last year, Wang worked with clients in luxury, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and electronics through the PR firm Weber Shandwick. But now, as consumers have gotten increasingly saturated with fashion and beauty crossovers, brands would be smart to branch out into overlooked spaces.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.