Aviator Sunglasses
1936
Developed by Bausch & Lomb, branded as Ray-Ban
As with several iconic designs, such as the Jeep, Aviator sunglasses were originally intended for military use and developed in 1936 for pilots to protect their eyes while flying. Ray-Ban began selling the glasses to the public a year after they were developed.
Wearing Aviators, General Douglas MacArthur’s landing on the beach in the Philippines in World War II, greatly contributed to the Aviators’ popularity when photographers snapped several pictures of him for the newspapers.
The original Aviators had gold frames and green tempered glass lenses. The dark, often reflective lenses are slightly convex and have an area two or three times the area of the eye socket in attempts to cover the entire range of the human eye and prevent as much light as possible from entering the eye from any angle.
Further contributing the Aviators’ cult status, was the adoption of the glasses by several pop culture icons including of Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Val Kilmer, and Tom Cruise. Also the Ray Ban aviators were also prominently featured in films Cobra, Top Gun, and To Live and Die in L.A. where two main characters are seen wearing them through the film.