Who owns Smith?
Smith is owned by Safilo (Italy, BIT: SFL), which has owned the brand since 1996.[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Safilo Group Annual Report 2025, Safilo Group S.p.A. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Safilo Group S.p.A. reported
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇮🇹 Italy, Padua
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States, Sun Valley, Idaho
- Founded
- 1965
- Category
- Apparel, footwear & accessories › Accessories & footwear › Eyewear
- Parent ticker
- BIT: SFL
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Smith
Smith was born in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 1965 with the invention of the first ski goggle with thermally sealed lenses and breathable ventilation foam. Safilo bought the American company Smith Sport Optics in 1996 as its entry into sports eyewear, and it is now known for technical goggles and helmets. Its I/O MAG Imprint 3D is a custom goggle scanned from the wearer's face and 3D printed on HP equipment.
Ownership timeline of Smith
Where Smith sits in Safilo
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Safilo ownership tree →
See the full Safilo brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by Safilo
Safilo controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 3 of them in apparel, footwear & accessories.
Also in apparel, footwear & accessories
- Blenders Eyewear (2012)
- Carrera (1956)
Other brands in eyewear, and who owns them
The 25 brands in eyewear on Brandtree belong to 7 owners. The largest is EssilorLuxottica, with 6; Safilo has 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Arnette | EssilorLuxottica | 🇫🇷 France |
| Fielmann | Fielmann Group | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Aqualens | Lenskart | 🇮🇳 India |
| America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses | National Vision | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Titan Eye+ | Titan | 🇮🇳 India |
| Warby Parker | Warby Parker | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Oakley | EssilorLuxottica | 🇫🇷 France |
| Oliver Peoples | EssilorLuxottica | 🇫🇷 France |
About the owner: Safilo
Safilo is a publicly listed company headquartered in Padua, Italy, founded in 1934. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control, and it is listed as BIT: SFL.
Safilo is an Italian eyewear maker whose roots go back to 1934, when Guglielmo Tabacchi bought Italy's first eyewear factory in Calalzo di Cadore; it is based in Padua and listed on Euronext Milan, and HAL Holding became its major shareholder in 2010. It had net sales of 983.4 million euros in 2025. Its owned brands, led by Carrera, Smith, Polaroid and Blenders, and the perpetual Eyewear by David Beckham licence make about half its sales; the rest comes from fashion licences such as Tommy Hilfiger, BOSS and Carolina Herrera.
🇺🇸 Smith and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,570 brands that began in the United States. 501 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Smith among them.
- 7 For All Mankind — Delta Galil 🇮🇱
- AKHG — Duluth Holdings 🇺🇸
- Adore Me — Victoria's Secret 🇺🇸
- Aerie — American Eagle Outfitters 🇺🇸
- All in Motion — Target 🇺🇸
- Allen Edmonds — Caleres 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Smith?
The parent company of Smith is Safilo, a publicly listed company headquartered in Italy.
Is Smith American or Italian?
Smith originated in the United States in 1965, but it is owned today by Safilo, which is headquartered in Italy. So Smith is an American-origin brand under Italian ownership.
Since when has Safilo owned Smith?
Safilo has owned Smith since 1996.
Is Smith still owned by Safilo?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Smith is still owned by Safilo. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Safilo Group Annual Report 2025 — Safilo Group S.p.A., Annual report; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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