The Aviator Sunglasses: A Short History from 1936 Air Force to 2026 Coastal

The teardrop-shaped frame on every aviator-style sunglass in the world traces back to a specific 1936 commission from the US Army Air Corps. Here's the story of how it became the most-iconic sunglasses silhouette of the 20th century.

1936: Bausch & Lomb solves a pilot problem

By the 1930s, US Army Air Corps pilots flying at altitude were experiencing migraines, eye strain, and impaired vision from the unfiltered glare of high-altitude sun reflecting off cloud cover. Existing eyewear (round goggles, simple flat lenses) couldn't filter enough light without distorting depth perception.

Bausch & Lomb (a Rochester, NY optical-instruments company) was commissioned by the Air Corps to design a solution. The lead optical engineer, Charles Stanley Hayward, designed a teardrop-shaped lens — wider at the top to block sky-glare, tapering toward the bottom to match the natural eye-socket shape. The lens was treated with a green-tint that filtered specific glare wavelengths without distorting color. The frame was thin gold-plated metal, light enough to wear under flight helmets.

The first production run was 1936; by 1938 the design was standard issue across the Air Corps. The civilian version went on sale through Bausch & Lomb in 1938 under the brand name 'Ray-Ban' (literally 'ray banner' — the eyewear that bans glare rays). The brand was eventually spun out as Ray-Ban Inc.

World War II: Mass deployment

WWII put the aviator on millions of pilots' faces — the standard issue for both Air Force and Navy pilots, then for officers across all branches by 1944. The publicity photographs of WWII airmen in aviator sunglasses became some of the most-circulated wartime imagery, giving the silhouette enormous cultural exposure.

Civilian uptake was rapid post-war. By 1950, aviator sunglasses had moved from military-utility into mainstream fashion, particularly with returning veterans. The Hollywood film industry adopted them aggressively — General MacArthur's iconic gold aviators in Korean War photography, then 1960s and 1970s film stars (Robert Redford in The Way We Were, etc) sealed the silhouette's cultural status.

1986: Top Gun and the modern aviator era

Tony Scott's Top Gun (1986) is the single biggest commercial event in aviator-sunglasses history. Tom Cruise's gold-frame aviators (Ray-Ban model 3025) generated $40M+ in retail aviator sales in the 12 months following the film's release — at the time, an unprecedented marketing windfall. The silhouette became inseparable from a particular masculine-cool aesthetic for the next 30 years.

By 2026, aviator-shaped frames are produced by every major sunglasses brand and dozens of independent labels — including OHO's HORIZON line. The silhouette is one of about 6 dominant frame shapes in modern eyewear (alongside wayfarer, round, cat-eye, square, oval), and it remains the most-purchased style globally per Mintel's 2024 sunglasses category report.

What makes a real aviator vs an aviator-inspired piece

Three structural features define the genuine aviator silhouette: (1) double-bridge metal frame (two horizontal bars connecting the lenses), (2) teardrop lens with the wide point at the upper outer corner and tapering toward the lower nose, (3) thin metal temples (~140-145mm) often with a 'paddle' shape near the ears.

OHO's HORIZON line has all three features. The variations across colorways — different lens tints, frame finishes — are color-only; the silhouette structure is the historical aviator template. If you compare a HORIZON E to a 1980s Ray-Ban 3025, the proportional geometry is essentially the same.