At work today, while laying out some copy for a magazine feature on sunglasses, I learned that sunglasses actually trace their origin back to ancient Inuit times. They were used to prevent snow blindness, caused by the sun’s harsh rays reflecting off the snow and subsequently damaging the retina — makes sense. These sunglasses, or “snow goggles” as they’re more often referred to, were made out of leather, wood, bone and even walrus tusks..! The designs were simple, generally with small slits to see through, but really quite beautiful in their minimalism.
A quick google image search on “Inuit snow goggles” also yielded “Slanties” — a contemporary line of handcrafted, wooden eyewear based on the aforementioned goggles. I’m not going to comment on the racially tinged name… It looks like they might have stopped producing them anyway as a result of that misstep. In any case, they pale in comparison to the source.
