The Ray-Ban Clubmaster is one of the most enduring pieces of the Ray-Ban Icons range. A style which is steeped in fashion history, it might be surprising to learn that the modern Clubmaster was actually developed by Ray-Ban in 1986. Drawing on over 50 years off fashion heritage and history, this iconic browline style is a timeless classic which returns time and time again.

The Browline style was first manufactured in America in 1947 by a company called Shuron Ltd, under the brand, Ronsir. The early Ronsir Browline glasses featured interchangeable eyewires, bridges and brow pieces, giving the wearer the ability to completely customise and change the look and colour of the glasses as they desired.

Malcolm X in 1965 wearing browline glasses. Image Michael Ochs.

The Browline features a thick upper part to the frame, giving the impression of eyebrows and lending the style it's name, and usually a thin, metal or plastic lower eye frame. The Browline was quickly picked up on and emulated by other eyewear manufacturers, who developed the design further into mens, womens and unisex designs and incorporating features such as unique plaques and materials, including plastic brows made to look like woodgrain which were popular for a time in the fifties.

James Dean in browline glasses

The browline became one of the most popular styles in the fifties and sixties, where the style accounted for half of all glasses sold in America in the 1950s. The style got it's footnote in history when it was worn by figures such as black liberationist, Malcolm X who was frequently photographed wearing browline glasses and also president Lyndon B. Johnson, who was famously pictured wearing browline glasses when he signed his national statement regarding the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

More famous browline glasses wearers include American actor, James Dean and London gangster, Ronnie Kray, showing how wide the appeal of the style was to people in all walks of life and culture.

In the 1970s there was a decline in popularity for the browline during a backlash against culture and fashion of the 1950s and 60s, which had begun with the late sixties hippie counter culture. The style was viewed standing for some of the more undesirable conformist aspects of the past and were thought too conservative. Despite this, Shuron, the original manufacturer of the browline, passed 16 million pair sold in 1971 and the style did remain popular among older people. In 1978 the browline style had a resurgence, when an anti-disco backlash effected the popularity of the Aviator and Teashade sunglasses (round, John Lennon style sunglasses) which had been at the forefront of eyewear fashion since the decline of the browline's popularity.