Luxottica acquires two prominent sun chains in South Africa

Milan, Italy – March 23, 2007 - Luxottica Group S.p.A. (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX), the global leader in eyewear, today announced that it has acquired two prominent specialty sun chains in South Africa, for a total of 65 stores. Andrea Guerra, Chief Executive Officer of Luxottica Group, commented: “The two acquisitions announced today represent an important step in the expansion of our sun retail presence worldwide. In particular, we expect that they will contribute to accelerate growth in a market that we believe offers significant opportunities going forward thanks to its increasing importance as a tourist destination as well as the keen sensibility of its population to global brands and Made in Italy in particular.”

South Africa is a market where Luxottica Group has held a strong wholesale presence since 1997. Earlier this month Luxottica acquired 42 stores operating under the Sunglass World retail brand. Today the Group announced the acquisition of a second local specialty sun retailer with a total of 23 stores operating under the Occhiali for Sunglasses retail brand. Together, both chains have prominent locations in shopping centers in urban areas including Johannesburg and Cape Town as well as attractive airport locations. Luxottica Group’s total investment in the two transactions will be approximately €10 million.

Both transactions are expected to close during the second quarter of 2007, subject to customary closing conditions.

About Luxottica Group S.p.A.

Luxottica Group is a global leader in eyewear, with approximately 5,700 optical and sun retail stores in North America, Asia-Pacific, China and Europe and a strong brand portfolio that includes Ray-Ban, the best selling sun and prescription eyewear brand in the world, as well as, among others, license brands Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada and Versace, and key house brands Vogue, Persol, Arnette and REVO.

In addition to a global wholesale network that touches 130 countries, the Group manages leading retail brands such as LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Asia-Pacific, and Sunglass Hut globally. The Group’s products are designed and manufactured in six Italy-based high-quality manufacturing plants and in the only two China-based plants wholly-owned by a premium eyewear manufacturer. For fiscal year 2006, Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX) posted consolidated net sales of €4.7 billion. Additional information on the Group is available at www.luxottica.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those which are anticipated.

Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in exchange rates, economic and weather factors affecting consumer spending, the ability to successfully introduce and market new products, the availability of correction alternatives to prescription eyeglasses, the ability to successfully launch initiatives to increase sales and reduce costs, the ability to effectively integrate recently acquired businesses, as well as other political, economic and technological factors and other risks referred to in Luxottica Group’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, under U.S. securities regulation, Luxottica Group does not assume any obligation to update them.

Luxottica Group S.p.A. media and investor relations contacts

Luca Biondolillo, Head of Communications
Tel.: +39 (02) 8633 4062
Email: LucaBiondolillo@Luxottica.com

Alessandra Senici, Senior Manager, Investor Relations
Tel.: +39 (02) 8633 4069
Email: AlessandraSenici@Luxottica.com