Are Smart Glasses Ready for a 2026 Breakthrough? | Fast Five Shorts

Are smart glasses ready for a breakthrough year in 2026?

At least that is what a new McKinsey and business of Fashion report is claiming.

And wearables, the report says, including smartwatches, rings, eyewear and bands are the fastest growing accessory category with growth of 8.3% per year since 2022, set to continue at 9% annually up to 2028.

Consumer adoption of smartwatches is also high with the category representing 35 to 40% of the watch market volume, while smart eyewear and smart rings represent less than 10% of their respected market volume.

Consumers are expected to further embrace smart glasses in 2026, according to the report.

For example, Ray Ban's Meta glasses were already the top selling product in 60% of Ray Ban's EMEA stores as of Q3 2024.

And this is also the put you on the spot question of the week from the A and M consumer and retail group and they want to know 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.

What are the most important implications on the growth and profit opportunities for the fashion and technology brands based on this go to market choice Better you than me?

Well yeah, I mean I would say as a fashion retailer I'd be, I'd be looking at what I can do with my current resources and capabilities to support the wearable market and my current customers that are not into wearable.

So you know, like I thought the options that they mentioned in the business of fashion article made sense like accessories.

Are you looking at engraving but things that you would do to your own products that you're just going to do to, to these, you know, these tech enabled products.

And as a tech company I would be leveraging my relationships with designers because I think the biggest thing to me that still stands in the way, I don't know that I agree that 2026 is going to be the year of the, of the smart glasses.

I just, I think it's different than a watch or a ring that's a little more discreet.

These are something that you're putting on your face.

This is like your window to any, any person or you know, thing that you're coming in contact with.

So as a tech company I would say 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.

Like, it's not something that is going to change how those glasses appear on my face.

It's really just like an add on that I can do that I can add.

Can do when I'm getting my, my glasses.

So I would say it's, it's something that I, I'm not, I'm not in.

I don't agree with business of fashion here.

I think that fashion retailers should tread very carefully with anything that they're doing outside of their current capabilities.

And tech companies, you really got to work and try to make ends with the fashion retailers to get them to, to offer this to their consumers who are very finicky consumers typically, especially when it comes to eyewear.

So how do you make your product as agile as possible so that it can fit into the most types or shapes or styles of glasses?

But Chris, what about you?

You actually have the glasses.

Yeah, I know.

I'm kind of like, thank God that that's when you had on this one.

Because I didn't want to disagree on another headline.

And, and you picked this headline.

So I was like, not, I was not sure where you're going to go with it.

I'm just like saying thank God because there's two points I'd bring up.

First is like the overall 2026 year, the smart glasses.

I, I'm selling that hard.

Like, it sounds like you are too.

Like, like you're right.

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.

Right.

And they've kind of just sat on the shelf collecting dust.

And so, so I agree, like, while the style and the tech can improve and I met it might make me wear them more.

But it's a big if because it's different than a watch.

Like a watch has biometric benefits too.

Right.

Like, so that's something you have to think about.

And then I think it's still hard to improve upon the overall utility of the smartphone experience itself, you know, which is just on demand to give you all the search information.

You can put your camera up to it.

You can take a video the same way you can with your glasses.

So like, I just don't, I just don't know.

But the other point of this is I'm selling it hard for the fashion brands to the fashion brands.

I wouldn't be touching this.

It's not your core competency.

Competency.

It's not your core competency.

You're trying, 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 on either a big markdown on product that's not going to sell because you haven't hit it right from a fashion standpoint, or you can have the threat of the tech company departing, doing business with you and leaving you again on the lurch.

So, like, I just, yeah, I just, I just don't, I wouldn't be touching this in any way, shape or form.

I think it's a, it's a salacious headline made to generate clicks and interest in the topic for, you know, the people that put it out.

In my opinion, agreement.