Fashion retail and smart glasses are colliding in a new way. Gentle Monster, known for its avant-garde frames and celebrity following, is racing to open stores across North America and Europe ahead of a product category it has never sold before.

The company’s Android XR smart glasses arrive this fall with Google Gemini AI built in. Google took a 4% stake in Gentle Monster’s parent through a $100M investment, betting the brand’s fashion credibility can help Android XR gain ground on Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, which have defined the category since 2023.

Global locations currently sit at 86, mostly concentrated in Korea. The target is 200 stores, with North America receiving priority as new outlets open before year end. The thesis: customers will want to examine smart glasses in person the same way they try on regular frames, giving physical retail an edge over online-only rivals.

Source: Road to VR