From walrus ivory to Wayfarers: A short 2,000-year history of sunglasses

It’s hard to imagine life in the UAE without at least one pair of designer sunglasses. From the opulent luxe of Gucci, Chanel and Bvlgari to the left-field appeal of Gentle Monster or local designers like Karen Wazen, shades are part of the endless summer lifestyle.

Yet despite being ubiquitous, sunglasses weren’t the brainchild of one inventor. They evolved independently across cultures, each finding a way to solve the same problem: shielding eyes from the sun’s glare.

Arctic origins

The earliest known sunglasses date back over 2,000 years, made by the Inuit of Alaska, Russia, Canada and Greenland. Crafted from walrus ivory or whalebone with narrow slits to peer through, iggaak were rudimentary yet surprisingly effective. They reduced photokeratitis (snow blindness) caused by UV rays reflecting off ice and snow, offering enough protection for life in the blinding Arctic.

Shades of power in Imperial China and Renaissance Venice

By the 12th century, Imperial Chinese judges were wearing darkened quartz lenses called 'ai tai' (literally “dark clouds”), to conceal their eyes during court, ensuring a neutral expression.

In Renaissance Venice, opticians crafted green-tinted 'goldini' to cut the harsh sunlight bouncing off marble palazzos and canal water. The lenses were as fashionable as they were functional, quickly adopted by the city’s elite.

Eighteenth century eye health in Britain

In 1750s Britain, optician James Ayscough began experimenting with blue and green-tinted spectacles, convinced they could improve vision and reduce eye strain, a surprisingly modern take on ocular wellness. He wasn’t far off: U2’s Bono wears red-tinted lenses today to help manage his glaucoma. Ayscough’s designs are among the earliest form of what we would now recognise as sunglasses.

Through the 19th century, tinted lenses became more common, used by soldiers in the American Civil War and those with light sensitivity.

Motoring, flight and the birth of Ray-Ban

The invention of the car turned protective eyewear into a necessity. When Karl Benz debuted his open-top Motorwagen in 1885, drivers adopted leather-lined metal goggles with mesh ventilation – more armour than accessory – despite top speeds of just 16kph.

Flight pushed innovation further. In 1936, Bausch & Lomb developed lightweight, glare-reducing lenses for American Army pilots. A year later, the Ray-Ban Aviator was born, its teardrop silhouette and wire frame becoming a style staple for Elvis Presley, General MacArthur.

Decades later Tom Cruise would wear them in Top Gun (1986), which boosted sales by 40 per cent.

Hollywood’s favourite accessory

Ray-Ban followed in 1952 with the Wayfarer, in angular moulded plastic that became synonymous with midcentury cool. Andy Warhol wore them, so did Bob Dylan, Madonna, and the cast of The Blues Brothers. Michael Jackson made them a fixture of his Bad era. On screen, they became shorthand for character, as in the 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, worn by Mr Blonde, Mr White, and Mr Pink.

The link between cinema and sunglasses is long and multifaceted. In Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan made the Ray-Ban Round Metals famous when he wore them in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, while Richard Walker's nose-clip design for Morpheus in The Matrix leaned into the film's cyberpunk atmosphere. In Fight Club, Brad Pitt’s Oliver Peoples 523s spoke of anti-establishment rage, while the Tom Ford 108s worn by Daniel Craig’s in Quantum of Solace lent a stylish modernity to James Bond.

Recent years have seen a revival of the classics. In Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Cruise’s return in Aviators has once again boosted Ray-Ban sales, plus the popularity of the G-15 polarised lenses, created for pilots to absorb 85 per cent of visible light and enhance contrast.

The science of shade

Sunglasses aren’t just about style. They serve a biological purpose, too. Eye colour affects light sensitivity: melanin, the pigment that shields eyes from UV rays, is more abundant in darker irises, allowing brown-eyed people to tolerate brighter light than those with blue, green, or hazel eyes. This may help explain why sunglasses have little history in sunnier regions, but emerged in countries with long winters and harsh glare. The Inuit, for example, have evolved irises so dark they’re almost black.

Blue eyes are a relatively recent mutation, appearing around 10,000 years ago, possibly to boost vitamin D synthesis in lowlight climates and combat seasonal affective disorder. Violet eyes, like Elizabeth Taylor’s rare shade, are linked to albinism and occur in only about 1 per cent of people, caused not by pigment but by visible blood vessels beneath the iris. True albinism, marked by a complete lack of melanin, results in pink or red eyes.

Today’s frames

Modern sunglasses are a perfect union of science and style. Frames are crafted from titanium, carbon fibre, or even recycled skateboards; lenses from glass, high-index plastics, or lightweight polycarbonate, all designed to block harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Polarised lenses, originally created for pilots, filter glare and enhance contrast and are still prized for their clarity.

One of the pioneers, Ray-Ban, has a long-term relationship with Meta to create smart glasses. The jury still out on whether those models will live up to the cool factor of their predecessors.

In the meantime, whether they're worn to hide your gaze, protect your eyes or channel your inner movie star, things – and you – really do look better through a good pair of sunglasses.