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Dragon Eyewear Splits From Oakley/Luxottica

Carlsbad-based Dragon Alliance, an eyewear and accessory company, split from the Italian brand Oakley/Luxottica on June 13 and made the news public three days later.

A group of private buyers led by Dragon’s founder, Will Howard, and general manager, Aaron Behle, purchased the company for an undisclosed sum.

Howard founded Dragon in 1993. The company shared a private partnership with Oakley until both companies were acquired by Luxottica, a public company, in 2007 for $2.1 billion.

Behle, who is also the chief operating officer, says he and Howard led an initiative to take Dragon private because of branding control reasons.

“Luxottica is an $8 billion conglomerate very focused as an optical company, and we’re really targeting youth action sports accessories like snow goggles and sunglasses,” said Behle.

Dragon will retain all 60 of its employees, Behle says, and continue operating from its Carlsbad headquarters.

, Liz Wiedemann

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