Omni Talk Retail – "Are Smart Glasses Ready for a 2026 Breakthrough?"

Fast Five Shorts
Date: December 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Omni Talk Retail examines the potential for smart glasses to achieve mainstream adoption by 2026, as forecasted in a new McKinsey and Business of Fashion report. Hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga dive deep on the data, consumer trends, and distinct challenges that differentiate smart eyewear from other wearable tech like smartwatches and rings. The conversation also explores branding and go-to-market strategies in the context of fashion vs. technology leadership within the category, ultimately questioning the bullish predictions of a coming "breakthrough year" for smart glasses.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Market Growth and Current Adoption

• Wearables Boom:

  • Wearables (smartwatches, rings, eyewear, bands) are the fastest-growing accessory category, growing 8.3% annually since 2022, expected to reach a 9% annual rate by 2028.
  • Smartwatches make up 35-40% of the watch market; smart rings and eyewear are less than 10% of their respective markets.
  • Ray Ban Meta glasses led Ray Ban's sales in 60% of EMEA stores by Q3 2024.
    —[00:00]

• Brand Leadership:

  • "Wearables Brand share has been concentrated and generally dominated by technology brands like Apple, Garmin, Samsung in watches and Aura in rings. However, with glasses, the branding model seems to be led by the fashion brand with a powered by technology sub brand. Ray Ban Meta is the great example." — Host A [00:54]

2. Fashion vs. Technology Brand Dynamics

• Opportunities for Fashion Retailers:

  • Anne Mezzenga suggests fashion retailers should leverage existing resources (engravings, customizations) for smart eyewear, but warns against straying too far from core competencies.
  • Importance of treating smart glasses as an add-on capability, like blue-light filters—tech shouldn't fundamentally alter the style or fit.
    —[01:23]

• Tech Company Strategy:

  • Tech brands must forge more relationships with fashion designers and retailers, making their smart glass tech modular and adaptable to a wide array of frames.
  • Achieving "agility" is critical: making smart tech seamlessly fit into existing fashion products.
  • "I don't see this reaching like mass adoption until the tech company has figured out how they can make their product as agile as possible so that I can put it into my existing frames the way that I could like put a blue light filter on my glasses." — Anne Mezzenga [02:12]

3. Skepticism on 2026 as a Breakthrough Year

• Limited Current Utility:

  • Chris Walton, an owner of Meta Ray Bans, describes them as "a novelty" with awkward use cases and little day-to-day utility:
    • "I have the meta glasses, the Ray Bans, and they're a novelty. Like they're awkward. You're filming people. You have to have a real specific use case to even wear them. I don't wear them hardly at all. And so... they've kind of just sat on the shelf collecting dust." — Chris Walton [03:29]

• Comparison to Smartwatches and Smartphones:

  • Smartwatches offer distinct biometric benefits that smart glasses do not.
  • Smartphones still offer more practical convenience for search, photography, and AR capabilities, competing directly with smart glasses.

• Warnings for Fashion Brands:

  • Both hosts strongly discourage pure fashion brands from jumping in:
    • "I wouldn't be touching this. It's not your core competency. You're tying yourself into a tech company which history has shown tech companies can behave like vultures. So at some point you're going to be left holding the bag..." — Chris Walton [04:21]
    • “I think that fashion retailers should tread very carefully with anything that they're doing outside of their current capabilities.” — Anne Mezzenga [02:43]

4. Go-to-Market Risks

• Inventory & Partnership Peril:

  • Risk of unsold, marked-down stock if smart eyewear doesn't hit with consumers.
  • Dependence on tech partners exposes fashion brands to abrupt strategic shifts.

• Cynicism About the Hype:

  • Both hosts agree that projections of a 2026 breakthrough are overstated:
    • “I think it's a salacious headline made to generate clicks and interest in the topic for, you know, the people that put it out.” — Chris Walton [04:59]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the uniqueness of eyewear as fashion:

  • "These are something that you're putting on your face. This is like your window to any person or, you know, thing that you're coming in contact with." — Anne Mezzenga [01:56]

• On the current utility gap:

  • “It's still hard to improve upon the overall utility of the smartphone experience itself...” — Chris Walton [03:44]

• Consensus skepticism:

  • "In my opinion, agreement." — Anne Mezzenga, closing the conversation [05:09]

Segment Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:23: Market overview, wearables growth, smart eyewear sales highlights, and business model discussion.
• 01:23 – 03:23: Fashion and tech strategies, caveats on going outside core competencies, and integration challenges.
• 03:23 – 05:09: Personal experience with Meta smart glasses, comparisons to other devices, risks for fashion brands, and skepticism of 2026 "breakthrough" narrative.

Tone & Style

The episode maintains Omni Talk’s characteristic practicality and healthy skepticism, challenging industry hype with firsthand experience and business realism. The hosts use conversational, relatable language and balance their tech fascination with pragmatic retailer advice.

Takeaways

• While wearable tech is booming, smart glasses face unique hurdles—especially in fashion, customization, and daily utility.
• Big adoption increases for smart glasses in 2026 remain unlikely without leaps in both seamless tech integration and compelling use cases.
• Fashion brands should be cautious and prioritize their strengths; tech companies still need to crack the code for modular, unobtrusive designs.
• The hype around a "breakthrough" for smart eyewear in 2026 is more about headlines than reality for now.