How the Ray-Ban Wayfarer became the favorite accessory of the world's scroungers

Last February Rosalía became one of the star guests at Dior's fall/winter 2024-2025 fashion show, held in Paris. Upon her arrival, a swarm of fans and photographers gathered around her to get the best image of the Catalan, dressed in a black outfit topped by a down jacket and sunglasses of the same color. “Without sunglasses, Rosalía,” asked one of the photographers. “No, no, no, the

look

is with the glasses,” she responded and refused to take them off. Although Rosalía's decision surely responded to contractual reasons with the fashion brand, the truth is that sunglasses have taken on a prominent role, inside and outside the

star system

. And it is not surprising, they say as much or more about oneself as the clothes we wear. Although the average price of this supplement has increased by 18.4% compared to 2019, its sales have increased by 14.8% compared to 2021, according to recent data from the

White Paper on vision in Spain

, prepared by the Spanish Federation of Optical Sector Associations (FEDAO).

Experts say that fashion is the most primitive language that exists, the one with which we present ourselves to the world before even opening our mouths. Sunglasses accentuate that preconceived image and for many they are as essential for everyday life as putting on shoes. In Dani Martín's controversial song titled

Ester Expósito

, the singer starts the song with the following phrase: “Wayfarers always look good,” in reference to the Ray-Ban Wayfarer model that he always wears. A design that has become the epitome of the canallita, the one who wears them both on a Sunday morning to hide his hangover and to move around the center of Madrid on a motorcycle (Vespa, if possible) or, in the case of the Madrid singer, go to a red carpet, as we saw at the LOS40 Music Awards gala in 2022. But why can simple sunglasses contain so much symbolism? Sophie Barre de Marco, product director of the Jimmy Fairly sunglasses brand, believes that certain frames acquire the status of “iconic because they become an extension of our personality, of our image.” That is, prejudices aside, they have the ability to project something (good or bad) about each of us. In the case of Wayfarers, we could say that not all Wayfarers are for sluts, but all sluts do carry or have worn Wayfarers.

The favorite model of the world's street urchins

The original Wayfarer sunglasses feature an unusual 20-degree tilt in the frame, are from Ray-Ban and were designed in 1952 by optical designer Raymond Stegeman. In the 1980s they enjoyed a period of splendor thanks to their appearance in

blockbusters

such as

Risky Business

, with Tom Cruise playing a wealthy teenage scoundrel who is never separated from his Wayfarer. The timeless nature of the design has transcended the passage of time and today almost all optical brands offer frames inspired by the Wayfarer, hence their proliferation on the streets.

More information

The unexpected invention of the Wayfarer: how a 20-degree tilt turned sunglasses into a symbol of style and sex

When we see someone hidden under this type of frame, we identify a person who “communicatively dispenses with all those micro-expressions around the gaze that could reveal their appearance or position. That is to say, sunglasses, beyond their functional nature, act as a mask. However, each mask has a meaning and refers to a contemporary archetype that we must decipher,” reflects Llanos Gómez, professor of Fashion Sociology at the University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT). The so-called canallita would be the archetype linked to this type of sunglasses, those heterosexual men afraid of commitment, party lovers, full of self-confidence and interested in fashion in just the right amount, what is necessary to look good but without going outside the norm. Names like the actors Jude Law, Jake Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio (also on the big screen, as we saw in

The Wolf of Wall Street

) or the

Maroon 5

singer Adam Levine, all of them at the peak of international

canalism

, have found in These sunglasses are one of his favorite designs. And if the black models, more discreet and sober, are par excellence the recurring accessory among the sluts of the world, the version with the colored frame deserves special mention.

Cover of the movie 'Risky Business', starring Tom Cruise.

The color frame that defined a generation

Colored Wayfarer glasses were the most sought-after object of the

hipster

era , back in 2010, when the Arctic Monkeys were leading the music charts and festival culture was beginning to become the mass leisure phenomenon we know today. In those years, these glasses were the quintessence of the

indie look

and later found their way into the wardrobe of the majority public, renewed not only with colored frames, but also with mirror-effect lenses in iridescent orange, green or blue colors. Some films from those years perfectly illustrate how glasses with colored frames went from the category of a

cool

and minority accessory (at the time, even Sienna Miller wore them) to a bestseller embraced by the cads, the same ones who did not hesitate. to wear them indoors, such as nightclubs, full of shirtless people with colored sunglasses.

In the 2012 film

Crossroads

, the character played by Ryan Gosling, a bleached blonde bank robber covered in tattoos, sports Wayfarers with bright green sideburns. A red version sneaks into

Saltburn

, a film set in 2006. In it, the character of Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi), a wealthy and charismatic Oxford student, spends his vacation days in his mansion sunbathing with crimson Ray-Bans that immediately connect with the way of dressing prevailing in those years.

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In contrast to these examples, we find the colored sunglasses seen in programs like

Jersey Shore (or its Spanish version located in Gandía) and in those

spring breaker

-inspired video clips

(parodied in the song

I'm sexy and I know it

, where one of the singers appears with large white-framed glasses without lenses)

who ended up relating this accessory to party culture. The 2014 comedy

The College Boys

reflected this directly in its promotional poster: its two protagonists, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, wore colored glasses to go unnoticed at the most outdated teenage parties.

With the passage of time, colored glasses have lost popularity but they refuse to disappear and are closer to that somewhat tacky aesthetic championed by scoundrels, troublemakers, bad guys... men who in the middle of 2024 show the same emotional responsibility as a peanut. They are not slaves to fashion (those who really follow trends have stopped wearing them, patiently waiting for their

revival

), although they are slaves to their image. That archetype is perfectly represented in the final season of the series

The White Lotus

with the secondary character of Jack, played by the British Leo Woodall. Jack seduces Portia's character (Haley Lu Richardson) with her direct and brazen attitude, very different from that of the timid Albie (Adam DiMarco), Portia's other possible romance. The two boys represent an interesting duality, reinforced by their almost antagonistic way of dressing. Of course, Jack is wearing colored Wayfarer glasses, perched on his head and paired with a printed shirt. An archetype of a trouble-seeking boy who does not give up colored sunglasses, a redoubt of

unapologetic

horterism .

Leonardo Dicaprio did not do without the accessory in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' either. James Devaney (WireImage)