After the first World War, the race for better technology led to major advancement in aeronautics. Better and stronger planes were now being employed by the Air Force, planes which had the capability to attain more speed and altitude. As a result, the pilots were subject to prolonged exposure to the direct glare of the sun, giving them headaches and even blackouts. To tackle with the increase in such complaints by the pilots, the USAF commissioned Bausch & Lomb to develop anti glare sunglasses sleek enough to fit inside a pilot’s helm. Bausch & Lomb designed and created a sleek golden framed pair of sunglasses with tear shaped lenses, and called it the RayBan Aviator. It was an instant success and started being associated with pilots. With the increase in it’s popularity after the war, Bausch & Lomb decided to go public with the sunglasses. They named Ray Ban their brand and took to calling the model simply as the Aviators.

Ray Ban took the civilian population by storm. Uptil this release, people were only getting cheap copies of the original design. Now they could wear exactly what they had seen the world war veterans wearing. The Aviators were an instant success and remain so till date.

The world was still ogling at this iconic model when in 1959, Ray Ban launched another model which would revolutionize style and immortalize Ray Ban’s name as the pioneer in the sunglasses industry. These were squarish, more angular pair of sunglasses all in black, with a nylon polymer body and black anti glare lenses. Ray Ban called it the Wayfarer. The Wayfarer would go on to become the preferred choice for musicians, actors and politicians around the world. Movie celebrities like James Dean, Audrey Hepburn and Robert De Niro have been known users of this model.

Bausch & Lomb sold all its rights over Ray Ban to the Luxottica Group, Italy, in 2006. Ever since then, the classic models have been re launched in an array of designs and colors. You may find all these models for sale online.