the.com/wayfarer
the sunglasses so iconic they survived a redesign, a near-death, and James Dean's entire vibe.
means A person who travels, especially one journeying on foot over long distances.
from A plain old English compound: 'way' (the road or path, from Old English 'weg') stitched to 'farer,' one who fares — and 'fare' here keeps its ancient sense of 'to travel, to go,' from Old English 'faran' (the same root that gives us 'seafarer' and 'farewell,' literally 'travel well'). So a wayfarer is, transparently, a way-traveler — someone going down the road. The sunglasses borrowed the name centuries later to sound rugged and roving.
- born
- Ray-Ban launched them in 1952
- shape
- first frames used new molded plastic, not metal
- comeback
- a 1982 product-placement deal revived dying sales
- screen time
- appeared in hundreds of films and shows
- famous fans
- Dylan, Hepburn, and the Blues Brothers wore them
wayfarer's chapel — modernist glass chapel in rancho palos verdes, california, completed 1951
the wayfarer's walk — 58-mile hiking trail from alton to meon valley in hampshire, england
wayfarer 14-foot dinghy — british sailing boat class designed in 1947, still actively raced worldwide