in 1917, giuseppe ratti, a photographer and owner of berry opticians, began creating eyeglasses for pilots and car racers after having researched on wearing comfort, strength as well as optimum view. for wearers.
a model of goggle, named as “protector”, made to be attached to the head by means of elastic bands, was soon adopted by the italian armed forces and was granted 14 international patents in 1924, and was also adopted by the swiss military forces as well.
in late 1930s, the “meflecto”, the world’s first flexible stems, temples, which has is one of distinctive features of the persol even today, was introduced. it will give maximum wearing comfort by fitting to any kind of face thanks to the flexible stem mechanism with nylon or metal cylinders intersected by a stainless steel core. it was also in this period that the silver arrow, an unmistakable decorative element of the brand, inspired by the swords of ancient warriors was born.
this innovative design, born of ratti’s intuition, was immediately patented in several countries. the beautiful design of this decorative element as well as acting critical part of the function soon brought persol international recognition.
in 1957, model 649, built for tram drivers in Turin who were in strong need of glasses to protect their eyes against the wind and dust, was created. the model had become a colossal success as sunglasses, and had been copied over the years by lots of competitors.
in 1961, this model entered into legend when marcello mastroianni wore them in the movie “divorce italian style”.
in those years, persol glasses became popular and wide used among celebrities of that period, not only pilots and sportsmen but also film and television stars such as greta garbo and steve mcQueen, who chose persol for use.
many stars like daniel craig and orlando bloom chose persol both on the set and in everyday life today as well.
please also be noted the situation is such that in italy about 30% of sunglasses used not only among celebrities, but also among ordinary people, young or old, is persol sunglasses.