Ancient history
You can say that the need to shield the eyes from the sunlight is as old as humanity itself: bone or walrus ivory masks crafted by the Inuit people in prehistoric times with thin slits to protect the eyes from the sun reflected off ice are a testament to this need. And so are the emerald lenses Roman Emperor Nero was said to have worn when watching endless gladiator fights. For the first real pair of sunnies, though, we have to wait until the 1700s and the creations of the glassmakers from Murano (where prescription lenses had already been invented): “Goldoni” or “gondola glasses” were elegant glasses with green lenses and side bands used to protect the eyes of the ladies from the air, wind and splashes of water during gondola rides.
The turning point of the 1900s
The golden age of sunglasses is undoubtedly the Twentieth Century. It all started in the 1920s, when US Army Air Corps Lieutenant John Macready – who had returned from a balloon flight complaining that the sun had permanently damaged his eyes – commissioned an American company to design sunglasses for air force pilots. The first “aviator” designs were born: they soon enjoyed such great success that, in the 1930s, they were no longer produced only for the armed forces, they were donned by the public at large; it’s the beginning of the history of a useful accessory that turned into a glamorous fashion icon. They say, in fact, that since the 1930s, sunglasses became so popular that they replaced what hats had represented until then: a must-have fashion accessory.
Hollywood’s contribution
But the greatest contribution came from eccentric figures, such as Peggy Guggenheim (with her celebrated golden frame recalling the shape of butterfly wings), and Hollywood celebrities. Like Audrey Hepburn who, in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, turned the Manhattan frame into an icon of style, while Stanley Kubrick – also thanks to the shots of the great fashion photographer Bert Stern – added a mischievous and seductive allure to the heart-shaped sunglasses donned by his Lolita. But what about men? Sunglasses have been a men’s wardrobe staple since 1953, like the design worn in 1980 by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in The Blues Brothers. The 1990s, instead, marked a turning point in style with the minimalist version worn by Keanu Reeves in Matrix: but, at this point, sunglasses had already taken on a new significance.
