Faring way
After Wayfarers’ heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, sales declined. Though Wayfarers were worn in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, only 18,000 pairs were sold in 1981, and Wayfarers were on the verge of discontinuation.
The sunglasses’ fate was reversed, however, when in 1982 Ray-Ban signed a $50,000-a-year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to put Ray-Bans into movies and television shows. (Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in over 60 movies and television shows per year; Ray-Ban’s product placement efforts have continued through 2007.) Tom Cruise’s wearing of Wayfarers in the 1983 movie Risky Business marked the beginning of a Wayfarers phenomenon; 360,000 pairs were sold that year. By 1986, after further appearances in Miami Vice and Moonlighting, sales had reached 1.5 million. Wayfarers rose to popularity among musicians, including Johnny Marr, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, Patti Smith, and members of U2, and among other celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and even Anna Wintour.
via my flickr and wikipedia/Ray-Ban_Wayfarer