In 1936, the US Air Force needed something better than traditional flying goggles at handling both strong sunlight and heavy fog. Together with Bausch & Lomb, it came up with the Ray-Ban Aviator. After WWII, frames became available to the public as surplus military stock and – probably owing to its association with victory and a famous picture of General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines – the aviator style took flight. From Brando and Bowie to McQueen and McCartney, it landed on the faces of some of the 20th century’s biggest stars.

The pilot style of sunnies taking over today is a softer take on the aviator with something of Ray-Ban’s chunkier Wayfarer about it (which makes sense given their shared roots in aviation). It’s defined by design tweaks in the 70s and 80s that introduced an exaggerated nose bridge, large flat lenses, a thicker rounded frame, and sometimes a brow bar on top. Chris Hemsworth’s Carrera shades in Rush are a great example of an early pilot style. 

Over the last five years, the prevailing trend in men’s sunnies has been Matrix-style slithers of acetate. We can thank the Hailey Biebers and Kendall Jenners of this world for that (yep, they influence men too) but these ‘thug life’ shades are now on their way out. It’s time to meet the larger frame you’re going to be seeing a lot more of this year. 

Alessandro Michele – majestic creative director of Gucci until 2022 – started the 70s streak still running through menswear. Lately, it’s been Tom Ford, Prada and Bottega Veneta pushing the 70s-born pilot style down the runway, while the recent Netflix series Senna brought the Brazilian race ace and his dazzling shades back into focus. Young scenesters have bought in and are now helping to usher in this new era of larger frames – check out Reuben Larkin, Thomas Meacock and Callum Mullin to see how they’re styling them.