Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Costa and More: The Luxottica Eyewear Edit

Most people who own a pair of Ray-Bans have never thought about who sits behind them. I find the story more interesting than it sounds. Luxottica was founded in 1961 in Agordo, Italy, by Leonardo Del Vecchio, and over the next sixty years it quietly collected the brands you probably already wear on your face. Persol came in 1995, the same year as LensCrafters. Ray-Ban followed in 1999, bought from Bausch & Lomb. Sunglass Hut joined in 2001, Target Optical arrived through the Cole National deal in 2004, Oakley in 2007, and Costa came into the family through Essilor in 2013. The two companies merged into EssilorLuxottica in 2018.

 

That history matters for shopping, because it explains why these seven names feel so different from each other. Each one kept its own point of view. Ray-Ban is the cool uncle of eyewear, Oakley is the one that shows up to a race, Persol is the Italian film star, and Costa is the one that lives on a boat. This Luxottica eyewear edit sorts the best of them by personality, so you can pick the pair that fits how you actually live. Below is a collage of the frames, and after it the full lineup.

Start with the Ray-Ban Original Wayfarer Classic, because it is the shape that taught the world what a sunglass could be. The Aviator Classic is the older story: it was the first Ray-Ban model, and it still reads as the safest way to look like you have somewhere to be. The Round Metal is the one I would pick if your style leans a little more poetic. The Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer is the oddball in the group, a Wayfarer with AI built into the frame, and it is a fair preview of where eyewear is going.

 

Oakley is a different mood entirely. Frogskins is the nostalgic one, a lightweight square frame that looks great with a washed tee. Holbrook sits in the middle, sporty without screaming about it. Sutro and Sutro Lite are the wraparound shapes, the ones you reach for when a run turns into a long lunch.

 

A quick tip on choosing: hold your face shape against the frame. Round faces tend to love the angles of a Wayfarer, and angular faces soften nicely in a Round Metal. What I would skip is buying a sporty wrap for a dressy dinner. Save that one for movement.

Persol is the quiet luxury of sunglasses. The brand debuted in 1917, and its name means "for sun" in Italian, which tells you how seriously it takes the job. The Persol 714 Original is the folding, silhouette-everyone-recognizes pair, and it is the one that looks best on someone who walks slowly and does not explain themselves. PO3019S, PO3393S Guido and PO3404S are the easier everyday Persol sunglasses, with the same acetate warmth in shapes that suit more faces.

 

Costa takes the opposite approach. These are polarized sunglasses built for the water, and the lineup here shows it. Reefton XL and Rincon II XL give you larger coverage for glare off a lake, Ballast is the clean everyday shape, and Tybee is the one with a little more shape to it. If you spend weekends near the coast, Costa polarized sunglasses are the practical pick. If you only like the look, Persol is the one to wear to brunch.

 

Pairing note: a tortoise Persol next to a navy blazer or a white linen shirt is almost unfair. What I would skip is wearing a big Costa frame in a city where nobody is near water.

This is the part of the family that most people actually touch. Sunglass Hut was bought in 2001, and it is where the big names sit side by side, so the Sunglass Hut Collection frames here are a simple, lower-pressure way to try a shape before committing to a designer logo. HU2001, HU2005, HU2014 and HU2019 cover the sunglasses basics.

 

LensCrafters opened in 1983 in Florence, Kentucky, and joined the group in 1995. Its optical frames are where the fashion names show up for your prescription: Prada, Coach, Michael Kors and Burberry are all in the lineup. Target Optical came with the Cole National deal in 2004 and sells frames from Ray-Ban, Ralph by Ralph Lauren and Coach, which makes it the easy stop if you want a recognizable name on a daily pair of glasses.

 

Glasses are the one accessory you wear every hour of the day, so I would treat them like jewelry. A tortoise frame warms up a pale face, and a thin black frame sharpens a soft outfit. What I would skip is picking frames on a screen without checking the width, since the fit is what makes a pair feel expensive.