Founded 1929 Products Eyewear and sunglasses | Founder Sam Foster Website fostergrant.com | |
Type Subsidiary of FGX International Headquarters Smithfield, Rhode Island, United States | ||
Foster Grant, or FosterGrant, is an American brand of eyewear founded by Sam Foster in 1929. The Foster Grant brand is a subsidiary company of FGX International, a consumer goods wholesaler with headquarters in Smithfield, Rhode Island, which has been owned by Essilor since 2010.
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Foster Grant's original production line was ladies' hair accessories; over the company's lifetime they have also produced other plastic materials including heart-lung pumps.
Early years and the development of mass market sunglasses
In the 1850s, celluloid was invented as a substitute for substances such as ivory and turtle shell. One major use for the new substance was in the production of hair combs. Samuel Foster founded Foster Grant to produce these celluloid hair combs.
In the 1920s, Hollywood actresses (ironically featured on celluloid film) started wearing shorter hair styles. These became popular causing a collapse in the market for combs, and threatening Foster Grant. However, the development of injection molding technology made it possible to produce mass market celluloid sunglasses. Sales rapidly increased with Hollywood stars featuring in advertising campaigns, and the company became a major player in the sunglasses industry.
Advertising
Foster Grant's 1960s and 1970s sunglasses ad campaign "Who's that behind those Foster Grants?", included celebrities Peter Sellers, Louis Jourdan, Carroll Baker, Claudia Cardinale, Elke Sommer, Anita Ekberg, Vittorio Gassman, Anthony Quinn, Mia Farrow, Robert Goulet, Julie Christie, Woody Allen, OJ Simpson, Raquel Welch, Terence Stamp, Clayton Moore, and Vanessa Redgrave.
That famous ad campaign was reintroduced around the year 2000 with model Cindy Crawford and race car driver Jeff Gordon.
Beginning in January 2009, Raquel Welch was the star of a national television advertising campaign for the Foster Grant Reading Glasses collection. FGX International spent over $12 million in measured media on consumer television advertising in 2009. The ads were created by Ferrara & Co. of Princeton, New Jersey and produced by television director Bob Giraldi.
Foster Grant launched television commercials in 2010, once again including Hollywood icon Raquel Welch. Today, the popular brand is represented by the famous Hollywood actress Brooke Shields.