GARRETT LEIGHT CALIFORNIA OPTICAL: innovation, community, culture
- By Clodagh Norton
Eyewear brand founder Garrett Leight spoke to 20/20 Europe about building an international brand, from the ground up. As the company enters 2026, Leight has returned as CEO with fresh ambition for driving the company into the future.
Q: When you originally launched your business in 2009, you opened a multi-brand store in Venice Beach. How quickly did you realise that you wanted to start your own brand and that there was real potential at the time to grow into an internationally renowned brand?
A: We launched with a ton of vintage frames and we were selling them so fast that it was almost like I was nervous that we wouldn’t have our best-selling frames to sell in a year. So, I decided within six months to begin working on my own collection inspired by the vintage frames that our customers were most interested in. I think I was mostly focused on solving this problem, because there weren’t enough thin acetate frames on the market that were well made with a timeless design and a great price. I believe filling that hole is what contributed to the quick growth globally.
2026 is about a fresh start. Our collection draws inspiration from the city I love and has the spirit of starting anew...
Q: What have you loved the most about developing your own brand from the ground up, and what have been the biggest challenges?
A: It’s the same answer for both in that my favourite part and the most challenging part is the people. When you build something out of thin air that becomes successful you not only inspire a lot of individuals, but you help build careers and businesses for people because of your creations driven by your vision, leadership, and execution of building a brand and a business. And that allows you to meet all kinds of people from all over the world and have a meaningful impact on their lives. Both clients, team members, and even end consumers. However, at the same time, as you grow and expand and widen your partnerships with more and more people, managing their expectations and keeping up with the ever-growing need for more as well as just navigating different personalities is by far the most challenging thing in business.
Q: We noticed that in 2025 that you have returned as CEO? Can you comment on your role now and going forward.
A: My strength has always been around understanding the whole picture from product design to marketing to sales, operations, logistics, customer service and beyond. I am a jack of all trades and a master of none. Nobody has been more intimately involved with every centimetre of this business from day one like I have. My role is to ensure we are operationally excellent and valuing all of the right principles that got us here in the first place. We lost sight of that for a few years, and I’m in charge of returning us to glory. Perhaps most importantly, my role is to inspire my team along the way to believe in what we are doing and how we are doing it, which ultimately trickles down to our customers and creates a culture of winning.
Q: GLCO is picked out by celebrities regularly, and has been worn by Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Selena Gomez. How important is celebrity endorsement these days and how do you view this side of the brand’s success whilst growing a following in the early days?
A: Honestly, I think it’s no secret that in 2026 celebrity endorsement is pay to play. Nothing is free anymore. I am grateful that we began at a time where some of the most influential people in the world hand selected GLCO because they genuinely loved it and wore it to amplify their style. The celebrity landscape is completely evolving now. I’m not even sure I believe in an A-List. Every single community matters, and each community has its own individual leaders that influence people to shop brands and products. It’s happening not only through Hollywood entertainment, but Substacks about fashion, and podcasts about music. And in some cases, digital influencers can drive more traffic and revenue than true traditional A-List celebrities. I think the A-list is objectively more talented in their skill sets and hence more awe-inspiring and exciting when I see my brand on them. But the question is about endorsement, and the answer is that it’s extremely important and the net is much wider in 2026 for who we need talking about our brand.
Q: What has been the single most important factor for success in terms of international presence, and has the eyewear world changed a lot in your view in the last 15/16 years?
A: Brand equity and distribution go hand in hand for the single most important factors for international growth. You have to build a desirable brand that resonates with a global community and is in demand. Then you have to make sure you have the right distribution that is also large enough, because if people can’t find your products, then they will give up. It’s a careful balance of desirable designs that consumers can have an emotional connection to and then be able to physically shop. The only thing that has truly changed in 15 years is the consumer. Their access to information and the way they shop, they know everything now and are less reliant on being educated by retail stores. That’s not to say they shouldn’t rely heavily on opticians for style and fit, because those are the experts. But I believe most consumers go into stores knowing what they want because they have done all the research on social media and online.
Q: With the launch of the Autumn 2025 Collection, manufacturing of the GLCO collection moved to Japan. Why was this important and how do you reflect on the upgrades in craftsmanship now offered across the collection?
A: The demand for Made in Japan has never wavered in the eyewear industry. Japan is truly the zenith of eyewear manufacturing. It was just time I followed in my families’ footsteps of manufacturing in Japan and I believe our customers wanted this as well. We entered the market focused on value through pricing, which is what landed us on China initially. We still place importance on our pricing, but with zero sacrifice. I don’t like to focus too much on craftsmanship because I truly believe this has always been elite for us. But yes, undeniably there is nothing more precise than Japanese manufacturing.
Q: What other significant steps have been achieved in the last 12 months and how are you preparing for 2026?
A: The exciting answer would be collaborations and strategic partnerships. We are a generational California design brand. That is not something that anyone can take away from us. Now we need to align with brands and people and create products and moments for customers to engage with that inspire them. Last year we finished the year off with an amazing Ozzy Osbourne collaboration that was very successful. Now we have a few partnerships lined up for 2026 as well as a few events that I believe will continue to drive our message home to our existing customers and a new audience. The less exciting answer is that at headquarters we are grinding every single day to be prepared for growth by being operationally sound. This is equally important.
Q: What is GLCO presenting for MIDO this year and how does this reflect the brand as it is today?
A: We designed this collection one year ago when the city that I loved was burning. This collection is titled “New Beginnings.” This is all about paying homage to Los Angeles and starting over in the wake of disaster. Last year was also the year of the snake in the Chinese Zodiac, which symbolizes shedding of skin. 2026 is about a fresh start. Our collection draws inspiration from the city I love and has the spirit of starting anew.
Q: We noticed GLCO has produced a line of Ozzy Osbourne branded sunglasses – the GLCOOzzy Collection. How has this collection been developed and will it become available globally?
A: The Ozzy collection was launched globally in October of 2025. It oversold immediately and we placed a second production order to arrive in April. That will be the last of that collection for now.
