Prada and Meta could launch AI-powered smart glasses together

Could Meta be getting ready to roll out a Prada-branded edition of its Meta AI glasses? That's the question making the rounds after Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were seen seated in the front row at Prada's Fall/Winter 2026 Fashion Week show in Milan on Thursday. The Meta CEO appeared to be in conversation with the person next to him, Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada's chief merchandising officer and the son of head designer Miuccia Prada.

Zuckerberg has spent the past few years carefully refining his public image, including through higher-profile updates tied to Threads. Still, the timing and treatment arrangement have fueled speculation that his presence in Milan may have been less about the runway and more about business — specifically, a forthcoming partnership with the luxury house.

CNBC reported last summer that Prada was among the brands believed to be involved in discussions around AI-powered glasses. But Meta has not publicly confirmed any Prada deal, and the company has not responded to requests for comment regarding Zuckerberg's appearance at the show.

Meta's smart-glasses push has been closely linked to EssilorLuxottica, the French-Italian eyewear giant that makes Ray-Ban. EssilorLuxottica has worked with Meta since the early days of the product category, which first debuted under the Ray-Ban Stories label. More recently, the company said it sold more than 7 million AI glasses in 2025, up from about 2 million the year before. Those figures include both Ray-Ban Meta glasses and Oakley Meta glasses, with the Oakley line positioned toward sporty, performance-oriented users.

A Prada version could be the next logical step, especially given Prada's long-standing relationship with EssilorLuxottica. The two companies recently renewed their eyewear licensing partnership for the Prada and Miu Miu brands for another ten years. Their existing agreement was set to expire on December 31, 2025, but was subsequently extended through December 31, 2030, with an option to renew through December 31, 2035.

If Prada AI glasses materialise, they could give Meta a route into the high-fashion tier—a space its current Ray-Ban and Oakley offerings don't fully occupy. A luxury positioning could also elevate the broader perception of Meta's hardware ambitions, turning the glasses into more of a status item than a straightforward consumer gadget.

At the same time, there are questions about whether AI glasses are an easy sell in a climate where some consumers are pushing back against surveillance technology. In recent months, stories about people removing Ring doorbells and vandalising Flock cameras have highlighted growing discomfort around always-on monitoring devices. That broader sentiment could influence how Meta approaches features such as facial recognition in future glasses. The New York Times recently reported that Meta has been considering adding facial-recognition capabilities to its smart glasses—a possibility that drew criticism, particularly because the product had, until then, been viewed as a relatively modest success in the wearables space. The conversation has even sparked new countermeasures: one developer has built an app that alerts you when someone wearing AI glasses is nearby.

Taken together, the Milan sighting, the existing Prada–EssilorLuxottica ties, and Meta's expanding smart-glasses lineup have strengthened speculation that a Prada-branded AI glasses launch could be on the horizon — even as privacy and surveillance concerns continue to shape the debate around what these devices should be allowed to do.