The essentials: 20 sunglasses that made the history of design and pop culture

Aviators can be considered one of the first true models of fashionable sunglasses. Despite studies to provide an accessory able to aid pilots during their flights began as early as 1929, it wasn’t until the mid-’30s that the US Air Force soldiers were equipped with a pair. Bausch & Lomb made the cut among the many contractors of the American government, beginning to sells their Ray-Ban Aviators on the general market too in 1937, and officially patenting them in 1939. Their essential but timeless frame is made of steel, monel or titanium and is accompanied by slightly convex lenses, projected to cover the whole visual field of the human eye. Among its many variants, the Shooters – characterised by a triple bridge and a metal circle between the focal points – became particularly renowned in pop culture in virtue of gonzo journalism pioneer Hunter S. Thompson who made the sunglasses his trademark. Although mostly hip between the ‘60s and the ‘70s, the Aviators made a comeback in the ‘80s when Tom Cruise was seen sporting them in the hit film Top Gun.

The history of American eyewear isn’t made of Ray-Ban only, of course. Among the most celebrated brands from the States stands, since 1915, Moscot. Its clientele made of artists, actors and intellectuals has contributed to turn its solid yet sinuous silhouettes into timeless icons, able to look constantly fresh despite being designed in the first half of the Nine-hundreds. Among their most appreciated models features the Miltzen. It was originally lunched in the 1930s and adored – often in a transparent acetate frame variant – by Andy Warhol during the 1970s, after his Pop Art Ray-Ban Clubmasters phase. Equally suave are the Lemtosh, a quintessential accessory of socialite and writer Truman Capote.

Wayfares – designed in 1952 by Raymond Stegman from Bausch & Lomb, the first and historical producer of Ray-Bans, previously to their acquisition by Luxottica in the 2000s – represent one of the first sunglasses where design meets with functionality. Their distinctive line, that yesterday like today makes them stand out among its many competitors and imitators, was the result of the evolution of the studies on the application of plastic within industrial processes. The outcome was a model that could push its boundaries beyond the minimalist functionality of the metal wire frames that so far had characterised sunglasses design. From the initial endorsement by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause as early as 1955 to the Blues Brothers, and including an array of iconic wearers such as Bob Dylan, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson and The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, Wayfares have imposed themselves as a symbol of an enigmatic and rebellious coolness able to transcend the decades and to stand the test of time. 

These Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses from 1960 are one of the most representative takes on the cateye frame. Their icon status sparked when Audrey Hepburn wore them as Holly Golightly on the set of Breakfast at Tiffany’s while elegantly munching on a croissant in her dress in front of the famous jeweller’s. Just like the novel by Truman Capote that inspired the film, the Manhattans incarnate the sober elegance of mid-century New York. 

How is that a frame originally conceived for Italian tram conductors turned into a Hollywood icon? It simply took Steve McQueen, who showed up on the set of The Thomas Crown Affair in his own pair of Persol 714, to persuade the director John McTiernan to turn the sunglasses into a staple of the actor’s costume. The film turned into an unprecedented springboard for the sales of the model in the United States, where its fame peaked again shortly after when McQueen wore them once again in Bullit, another of his trademark blockbusters. The 714s, in Light Havana acetate and Crystal Blue Lenses worn by the actor, are the foldable adaptation of the original 649 model (as also seen on Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce, Italian Style) introduced by the Italian brand in 1957 to aid the Turin tram drivers in their duties.  Thanks to the introduction of pivots both on the bangs and between the focal points, the Persol 714 were the first pair of foldable sunglasses using acetate technology to be released on the market.

Courrèges’ designs made a name for themselves for their capability of bringing into fashion the lessons of the Op and Modernist Art of the Sixties. These sunglasses nod to the Inuit people’s visionary sunglasses, by readapting them to the Space Age taste of the times employing white plastic instead of ivory. Making no mystery of putting aesthetics ahead of functionality, the Eskimo sunglasses represent their natural development in the field of eyewear. These frames are an extraordinary piece of design that suddenly transport you into the unparalleled creative season of the Sixties, when arts, fashion and design dialogued with each other like only recently it has been happening again. It’s no wonder that Surrealism master Salvador Dalí loved them, as well as being more than an inspiration for Alain Mikli’s Shutter Shades for Kanye West.

In 1966 A. Oliver Goldsmith – who was contributing to give a fashionable spin to the small eyewear brand founded by his grandfather Phillip Oliver in 1926 – conceived a white pyramid-shaped pair of sunglasses by working the plastic by hand. The frame was purposedly designed to match a haircut by Vidal Sasson, the man behind Mary Qant’s history-making bob cut, highlighting the once-in-a-lifetime synergy between fashion and design that took place during the Swinging London. The Pyramid Shades by Oliver Goldsmith are now part of the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a testament to their influence in the British cultural heritage.

A performance or a piece of design? The Austriennale shades could be classified as both, as long as you don’t go as far as using them to protect your eyes from UV rays. The sunglasses conceived by Hans Hollein – future winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1985 and crafter of frames for AOC that bordered radical design – were serially produced every 15 seconds by a plastic printer located within the Austria pavilion at the 1968 Milano Triennale. The Austriennale, now a sought-after collectible, represent the meeting point between the futuristic design of the Sixties and a provocative extremization of the application of industrial processes in the realm of design. 

The success of a frame is often determined by the personality they are associated with. It was therefore inevitable that John Lennon’s favourite sunglasses became a staple of eyewear. Teashades, with their tin but sturdy steel frame, were popular glasses between the second half of the ‘800s and the first of the following century. However, they were rediscovered in the late 1960s thanks to the revival of Art Nouveau and dandy fashion. However, a big contribution also came courtesy of Lennon, who first fell in love with this rounded kind of frame when given a pair for his role in How I Won the War, a 1967 film set during the second world conflict. Since then, the Liverpool musician hardly separated from his teashades, commissioning a multitude of them, both prescription and sunglasses, with lenses coming in many different shades. Among them is one green-lensed model by Oliver Goldsmith, notable for being forgotten by the Beatle in the car of his colleague Ringo Starr in 1968. When Starr’s chauffeur Alan Herring found them, they were too wonky to be worn again. However, treasured for decades by Herring, the glasses auctioned in 2019 for the jaw-dropping amount of 165,000 Euros.

Renauld Mustang are of the most prominent examples of how luxury and elegance can be harmonised with sports frames. Renauld has been since the early 1960s a pioneer in matters of futuristic-looking wraparound sunglasses, paving the way – we could argue – for the 1990s sports frames to come. Its models have been loved and adopted by many, including Elvis who – according to popular tales – first discovered them on the nose of a fan. After having his personal assistant paying $100 to the young man, the King immediately made them his own, starting a long-lasting love affair with the brand.  However, the Mustang is the model that mostly stands out for its balanced compendium of effortless elegance and technological development; coming in a rich array of gold and silver frame variants in the 40th anniversary remake recently launched by Renauld. Its fame within the realm of pop culture, though, came courtesy of their cameo on the face of Rossano Brazzi in The Italian Job (1969), when the actor was seen sporting them while driving a radiant Lamborghini Miura in the film’s scenic opening titles scene, before tragically ending up crushed under the feet of Raf Vallone – who interpreted a Mafia boss.

Another pair of sunglasses that although originally conceived for sporting purposes found their way into streetwear. This frame, typical of the late 1960s and early 1970s, comes from a thicker reinterpretation in plastic of the classic Aviators. Despite the fact this model is mostly associated with the blue-white-red variant by Rossignol from the ‘70s, featuring mirror lenses and the skiwear brand’s logo between the focal points, its design is shared with Moncler and with a model by Bolle & Cébé – two other historical ambassadors of Transalpine Mountainwear. Bolle & Cébé launched the sunglasses at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics with the endorsement by three-time gold medallist skier and homeboy Jean Claude Killy.

Cazal 607s are the frame that defined the golden age of American Hip-Hop. As soon as Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels was first seen wearing them, these sunglasses became an icon for both the aspiring MCs of the newyorkese bloc parties and personalities like director and Afro-American culture instituton Spike Lee .The Cazals – or simply 'Cazzy', as they are known among their dedicated initiates – blend a typical 1970s frame à-la Yves Saint Laurent with the opulence of gold characterising the 1980s. They stem from the genius of Cari Zalloni, a designer with Italo-Austrian-Greek oriigns who grew up between the treasures of Ancient Greek and the Austrian deisgn avant-gard eof the 1960s. After cutting his teeth at Carrea, he went on to set up his brand in 1975, unexpectedly trending just within a few years among the subcultural underground on the other side of the ocean. 

The most representative sunglasses by Issey Miyake are also his most minimalistic yet functional, simply made out of two titanium circles and one line. Their timeless icon status is mostly due to the fact Jean Michel Basquiat adopted them as a staple of his look, to the point that photographer Henry Leutwyler captured them to represent the American painter in his still life series Document. Miyake’s essential concept has stood the test of time, constantly returning even after 30 years to inspire other designer sunglasses, like the Siza Vieira 0007 by Alvaro Siza for Vava.

If one had to sum the Eighties up in one pair of sunglasses, the Oakley Razor Blade would be the answer. These sunglasses, which represented an evolution of the similar Blade model from 1986 and of the Oakley Eyeshade that revolutionised the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, managed to turn an accessory conceived for sports into a staple of 1980s streetwear. Their wraparound silhouette combined with their nod to the Cyber aesthetic to come – think to the nomenclature of their frames and lenses, including variants such as Planet-X and Violet Iridium – made them equally suitable for cycling competitions and clubbing. The extraordinary success of the Razor Blades was also due to their basically endless customisation options – the trigger ear stem variant being the most desired accessory – something previously unseen in the realm of eyewear.

An instant classic of the early ‘00s, after all just like everything that Paris Hilton would wear in those days. These Chloé sunglasses had slipped into the oblivion for nearly two decades, before resurfacing thanks (well, thanks is a big word) to the current revival of Y2K aesthetics. Making the difference (also financially) was their Swarovski crystals decoration in the shape of a heart which embellished the thin metal frame balanced by solid pink-tinted lenses. Over time the Crystal Hearts have become a staple of pop culture in the time of postmodernity, defying the boundary between what’s trash and what chic. 

Across the ‘90s and the ‘00s sport frames, thanks to their retrofuturistic design able to capture the tension for the new millennium, were able to find a place in streetwear, contaminating the catwalks as much as the streets. Among the most trailblazing wraparound frames from this era are the sunglasses that the Vision department of Nike conceived for Dutch footballer Edgar Davids, who suffered from melanoma. The icon status of the sportsman, also mastered in virtue of his formidable looks, contributed in making these glasses a much-talked fashion staple of the times well beyond football grounds.

The so-called shutter or venetian shades, which own their name to their similarities with blinds, date back to the 1950s, times when the enthusiasm towards the latest studies on plastic and its application led to a great degree of experiments in design. Mostly a party prompt rather than an actual pair of UV ray-filtering sunglasses, shutter shades went through a popularity peak in the 1980s when they got featured in the videos for Glittering Prize by Simple minds and Obsession by Animotion. However, they only achieved certified cult status (and trademark glory) in 2007 when designer Alain Mikli revisited them for the visual identity of rapper Kanye West’s single Stronger.

The BV108S are one of the last heredities left by Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta. These sunglasses make the most out of fifty years of plastic design applied to eyewear, giving birth to a surprisingly fresh frame despite its overt nods to those ‘90s and early ‘00s silhouettes that had themselves been inspired by ‘60s Space Age aesthetics. The BV108S are one of the few sunglasses that have succeeded in capturing the current zeitgeist the most, in times when fashion is restlessly morphing into a supermarket of references headed towards the Metaverse. It is certainly no coincidence that they were worn by rapper Slowthai when attending the much-discussed Bottega Veneta Fall Winter 2021 show that took place last April, despite the Covid restrictions, at the legendary Berlin club Berghain. 

Paying a tribute to one of the most influential personalities architecture and design ever knew is definitely not for everyone. Oliver Peoples did so by celebrating the eyewear legacy of Domus’ founder with a collection in partnership with the Archivio Gio Ponti. The outcome is a series of frames nodding to the eyewear design of the 1930s, made of steel or tortoiseshell rounded silhouettes, also available with clip on lenses. The perfect frame to transport us to the halcyon days of the Italian riviera and of its architecture. 

Eyewear is also made of intuitions that escape optometric alone, as witnessed by the collaboration between Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Vava, a brand dedicated to hosting excellent name from the world of design and pushing its boundaries forward. In their recent collection, the CL00015 (pictured) and the CL00013 models are born with the concept of projecting into modernity the tradition of Japanese architecture techniques. Their innovative manufacturing, achieved with the use of 3D printers and employing beaver beans, then, highlights the attention architecture is currently paying to sustainability.