Persol Eyewear

Function meets sexy Italian style! Persol from “per il sole” meaning “for the sun”, highlighting their function of protection against the sun’s rays. Persol’s reputation through the years includes superior technology but also crazy sexy style! Iconic and legendary, Persol eyewear has long been a favorite of Hollywood greats. Many famous stars were known for their Persols including sexy Steve McQueen.

Persol History

Turin 1917, Giuseppe Ratti, photographer and owner of Berry Opticians, began an adventure destined to lead to international success. Indeed, it was in a small courtyard in Via Caboto that he began to make technically advanced glasses, designed to satisfy the demands of pilots and sports drivers who required comfort, protection and optimum vision.  Thus Protector glasses were born, made using round smoked lenses with rubber edges and attached to the head by means of elastic bands. Soon they were adopted by the Armed Forces and by pilots in the Italian Military Aviation.

Intuition, ingenuity, innovation and quality made Protector glasses the choice of several air forces around the world, including the United States. During this period they were worn by flying, driving and motorcycling aces – D’Annunzio, De Pinedo, Ferrarin, Chiron, Nazzaro, Fangio, Opessi, Bolognini and Ghersi to name but a few of their most famous users.  From the pen of a great designer, Eugenio Colmo, a.k.a. Golia, came to life the “Cinesino” in 1920, a character that distinguished the Berry shop in Via Roma and that, with its graphic development, accompanied advertising campaigns for Ratti’s products for 50 years, in particular the Persol line that was created in that period.

Again in the 1920s the famous yellow-brown lens that is mounted on all Persol glasses was created using neutral crystal made from the purest silica. Its singular characteristic is owed to a special “en masse” manufacturing process that determines its colouring and guarantees extremely high protection from the sun’s harmful rays.  Subsequent development of the Protector model, guided by an intuition and determination to create truly revolutionary sunglasses in terms of quality and ease of wearing, led to the creation of the Persol trademark (Persol from “per il sole” meaning “for the sun”, highlighting their function of protection against the sun’s rays).

The extraordinary characteristics of this innovative product were its neat design, crystal lenses (the pride of Persol), the Silver Arrow (both a functional detail and unmistakable decorative element) and the Meflecto patent, a system studied to make the stems flexible and offer maximum comfort.

The 50’s marked the birth of the Silver Arrow, Persol’s unmistakable symbol: a hinge decorated with an arrow on the stem, inspired by the swords of ancient warriors. This innovation, born of Ratti’s intuition, was immediately patented in several countries.

Model 649, built for tram drivers in Turin who needed large glasses to protect their eyes against the air and dust, was created in 1957. The novelty of its design made it a very successful pair of glasses, copied over the years by many competitors, and in 1961 they entered into legend when Marcello Mastroianni wore them in the film “Divorce Italian Style”.

The 1980s extended the considerable attention that Persol had always paid to technological innovation and care for its products. Indeed, it took part in several expeditions to test its lenses at high altitudes and in the desert, verifying their performance in extreme conditions, and to experiment with the use of innovative materials.lso marked the birth of the Silver Arrow, Persol’s unmistakable symbol: a hinge decorated with an arrow on the stem, inspired by the swords of ancient warriors. This innovation, born of Ratti’s intuition, was immediately patented in several countries.

Over the 80s and 90s, therefore, we see Persol being tested in the most extreme conditions, with an expedition to the Svalbard Islands in Northern Norway, the sponsoring of and participation in several editions of the gruelling Paris-Dakar race, and the outfitting of an entire team for the Pharaohs Rally in 1991.

And again, excursionist Enrico Rosso wore Persol glasses in 1989 as he climbed up to the Himalayan summit of Kun (23251 ft). With him was ophthalmologist Paolo Gugliermina who looked after ocular testing. Upon his return he reported that none of the men on the expedition had suffered eye problems thanks to protection from Persol lenses specifically designed for the mission.

Los Angeles, 1991, in the legendary and exclusive Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, the first Persol boutique opened as proof of a preference shown by an ever wider public.In 1994 Persol was present in 40 countries worldwide and sold in 3.500 points of sale in Italy and over 12.000 in the rest of the world. Its success was indisputable and due to the refinement of its models, Persol has been chosen for the advertising campaigns of great names in the world of fashion.

Persol has, from time to time, entrusted its public image to some exceptional figures: from the aforementioned Ornella Muti, Jean Alesi and Carol Alt to the extraordinary actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, footballer Alessandro Del Piero (promoter in 1998-99) and footballer Filippo Inzaghi (promoter in 2004). These personalities have shown their preference for the Persol legend and interpreted its style and character with elegance and originality.