From Audrey Hepburn to Hailey Bieber: How cat-eye frames became a timeless look

The cat-eye was the first distinctively feminine eyewear style in history. Invented by Altina Schinasi Miranda in the late 1920s, it revolutionised a masculine-driven eyewear industry. More recently, brands such as Celine and Gucci have taken up the mantle from Adam Selman x Le Specs in keeping the cat-eye renaissance alive. From its Upper West side beginnings to famous interpretations as worn by screen legends Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, Vogue Scandinavia charts the fascinating history of the iconic cat-eye sunglasses.

Can’t leave the house without throwing on a pair of cat-eye shades? We have many trailblazers to thank for that, but none as vital as American filmmaker and designer Altina Schinasi Miranda. Passing an optician’s window on New York’s Fifth Avenue one day, she found herself underwhelmed by the standardised unisex frames on display. A Dorothy Parker line came to mind — “Men seldom make passes at girls that wear glasses” — and Schinasi set out to make a pair of glasses that would make a woman look and feel attractive. She took inspiration from Venetian Harlequin masks and thus the Harlequin (later known as the cat-eye) glasses were born.

The creation of the Harlequin glasses was enabled by coinciding innovation in the eyewear industry, namely the “pantoscopic” tilt. In 1931, American Optical introduced the Ful-Vue — the first pantoscopic frame. For the first time ever, hinges were placed on the upper part of the frame that made the lenses tilt down on the wearer’s face. This technical improvement opened up the door for new shapes that would better fit the contours of the face. Owl look, be gone.

Related: The most iconic eyewear moments in movie history

Although Schinasi’s designs were initially rejected by the major manufactures (such as Ray Ban), she soon found an ally in a boutique optical shop on Madison Avenue that sold her designs to high-profile women such as American author Clare Boothe Luce and actress Katharine Cornell. By the end of the 1930s, harlequin glasses had become so popular that Schinasi started her own company to distribute them. In 1939, she was given the American Design Award from Lord and Taylor for revolutionising the eyewear industry and transforming optical glasses into a fashion accessory.

In 1947, only two years after the end of WWII, Christian Dior unveiled what was dubbed the New Look: nipped, hourglass shapes and A-line skirts. The cat-eye shape being tapered to the outer edges and tailored to accentuate a woman’s facial structures paired well with Dior’s era defining silhouette.

In the years that followed, eyewear production capability increased due to the switch to a highly scalable new material, cellulose acetate. As a result, cat-eye glasses appeared in every shape and form — often bedazzled with crystals and other embellishments for standout effect. The overarching theme of playfulness in the 1950s cat-eye glasses made them a symbol of post-war optimism and attractive to the larger-than-life starlets of Hollywood.

Related: The history of the sling-back heel

Marilyn Monroe famously made the feline-inspired shape part of her signature look. Grace Kelly had a penchant for the sharp angled and classic kind. And Elizabeth Taylor experimented with colour and embellishments. Then, in 1961, Audrey Hepburn starred in Breakfast of Tiffany’s in a pair of Oliver Goldsmith “Manhattan” sunglasses that catapulted oversized cat-eye sunglasses to fame and iconic status.

In Italy, some of the biggest movie stars of the time, such as Anouk Aimee and Sophia Loren, also captivated audiences with their sleek and polished black cat-eye shades both on-and off-screen. Around the same time, the optical industry began commissioning fashion designers, like the Italian haute couturier Elsa Schiaparelli, to make eyewear collections that would be marketed as creations of the fashion house. Schiaparelli in collaboration with American Optic further cemented the cat-eye frames’ appeal to the fashion crowd and marked the dawn of licensing agreements that would transform the eyewear industry to the multi-billion dollar business we know today.

Sixty years later, and a designer collaboration proved the cat-eye look hadn’t lost any of its lustre. The blockbuster success of Adam Selman x Le Specs’ the Last Lolita (inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 film adaptation of Lolita), was unprecedented. Pictured on Gigi and Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and an absurd number of Instagram posts, the model sparked a cat-eye sunglasses revival and put the style firmly back in the spotlight.

Related: The history of the tote bag

SS21 saw modern incarnations of the cat-eye shape virtually from all the big fashion houses. Celine has taken on the classic 1950s iteration while Gucci recently launched its Forever Hollywood collection featuring black teardrop cat-eyes sparkling with crystals. From the cat-walk to pop culture, we can’t get enough of this feline-inspired style and escape our intrinsic desire for playfulness.

Here’s some of the latest cat-eye frames to add to your sunglasses repertoire now: