Petit Bateau drops first eyewear collection for children
One hundred and thirty years after being first launched, French label Petit Bateau has introduced a new line of products for children, in addition to apparel, cosmetics and fragrances. This month, the brand founded in 1893 in Troyes, France, has dropped its maiden collection of children's eyeglasses and sunglasses. The products will be first distributed in France at specialist French opticians chain Krys, which operates over 1,000 stores.
Petit Bateau has licensed its eyewear to the Seaport ODLM group, which produces among others for Nuxe and Mauboussin. The Petit Bateau eyewear collection is inspired by a marine aesthetic and is available in two lines: one for nursery school children, featuring four eyeglasses and two sunglasses models, and the second for those of primary school age (6 to 10), consisting of 10 eyeglasses models, two models of sunglasses for girls and two for boys.
Petit Bateau, which is present in 55 countries through a series of e-shops and over 370 monobrand stores, is currently up for sale. Earlier this year, the Rocher group, which bought it in 1988, has indicated it intends to divest itself of the children's brand in order to focus on its beauty business, the Yves Rocher chain above all.
In an interview to Ouest France, Bris Rocher, president of the Rocher group, stated that the sale might take a while and that, for the time being, the group will continue to work on the brands it intends to sell, Petit Bateau and Stanhome, in the same way as before.
According to French news outlet L'Informé, the Rocher group has put the Rothschild & Co. bank in charge of finding a buyer, and several preliminary bids have reportedly already been filed.
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