History of "Eyes of Riders"

Ray-Ban is a manufacturer of sunglasses, founded in 1937 by Bausch & Lomb. They were introduced for the United States Army Air Corps. In 1999, Bausch & Lomb sold the brand to the Italian Luxottica Group for a reported 1.2 billion dollars.

Ray-Bans were initially created in 1937 after Lieutenant John MacCready had returned from a balloon flying adventure in 1920. He complained that the sun had done permanent damage to his eyes. He contacted Bausch & Lomb asking them to create a type of sunglasses that would not only provide superb protection, but also look elegant. On May 7, 1937, Bausch & Lomb officially took out the patent. The prototype, known as Anti-Glare, consisted of an extremely light frame weighing 150 grams. They were made of gold-plated metal with two green lenses made of mineral glass to filter out infrared and ultraviolet rays. Pilots in the United States Army Air Corps immediately adopted the sunglasses. The Ray-Ban Aviator became a well-known style of sunglasses when General Douglas MacArthur landed on the beach in the Philippines in World War II, and photographers snapped several pictures of him wearing them.

Hundreds of Ray-Ban Sunglasses have made appearances in Hollywood films; the first dates back to the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. Later, the popularity of Ray-Ban sunglasses was confirmed in the Hollywood hit Blues Brothers starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Later, Tom Cruise added his own contribution in the 1983 hit Risky Business, and the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun. Cruise has subsequently been among the greatest promoters of Ray-Ban Sunglasses, due to the resurgance of both Wayfarers and Aviators because of the aforementioned movies. In the 1997 box office hit Men in Black, Will Smith also made Ray-Ban appeal to even more people with a reference to the sunglasses.



President Barack Obama has also been repeatedly photographed wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses including on the cover of Ebony magazine.

James Allan lead singer of critically acclaimed scottish rock band Glasvegas is nearly always seen wearing Ray-Ban's.

Other notable celebrities known for wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses in the past include Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer, Roy Orbison, Alex Demosthenes, Slash, James Dean, Robert Pattinson and Andy Warhol.

On 9 December 2008, Bowery Ballroom (New York) hosted the Ray-Ban Remasters concert, which showcased the 50’s inspired RayBan Clubmaster sunglasses. The event brought a number of rock n’ roll bands and celebrities from the cast of Gossip Girl, including Blake Lively, Joshua Jackson, Dianne Kruger.