1970s slump and 1980s comeback

Actor Corey Feldman wearing Wayfarers at the Academy Awards, 1989After Wayfarers' heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, sales declined. Though Wayfarers were worn in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, only 18,000 pairs were sold in 1981, and Wayfarers were on the verge of discontinuation.

The sunglasses' fate was reversed, however, when in 1982 Ray-Ban signed a $50,000-a-year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to place Ray-Bans in movies and television shows. (Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in over 60 movies and television shows per year; Ray-Ban's product placement efforts have continued through 2007.) Tom Cruise's wearing of Wayfarers in the 1983 movie Risky Business marked the beginning of a Wayfarers phenomenon; 360,000 pairs were sold that year. By 1986, after further appearances in Miami Vice and Moonlighting, sales had reached 1.5 million. Wayfarers rose to popularity among musicians, including Michael Jackson, Johnny Marr, Blondie's Debbie Harry, Madonna, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, and members of U2, and among other celebrities such as Jack Nicholson and even Anna Wintour. Bret Easton Ellis' fiction often name-dropped references to Wayfarers, and Don Henley's 1984 song "The Boys Of Summer" contained the lyric "You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby". Ray-Ban's Wayfarer offerings expanded from two models in 1981 to more than 40 models in 1989, and Wayfarers were the decade's sunglasses of choice.


1990s decline and 2001 redesign

In the 1990s, the frames again became unpopular. The 1950s revival that fueled the glasses' popularity in the 1980s had lost steam, and Wayfarers were outcompeted by wraparound frames. In 2001, the Wayfarer underwent a significant redesign, with the frames made smaller and less angular, and changed from acetate to a lighter injected plastic. The changes were intended to update the frames' style during a period of unpopularity and to make them easier to wear (the frames' previous tilt made them impossible to perch on top of one's head, for instance). According to an eyewear boutique owner commenting in The Independent in 2007, however, the design was "diluted" and "horrible."


Late 2000s comeback

Model Emina Cunmulaj wearing white Ray-Ban Wayfarers, September 2007Wayfarers were brought back into fashion in the late 2000s when celebrities including Chloë Sevigny and Mary-Kate Olsen began wearing vintage frames. Ray-Ban designers soon noticed that vintage Wayfarers were commanding high prices on eBay, and the 2007 re-introduction of the original Wayfarer design aimed to respond to the demand. (As of 2007, Wayfarers were available in Original Wayfarer, New Wayfarer, and Wayfarer Folding styles.) Ray-Ban's marketing strategy was threefold: a return to the sunglasses' original, rebellious design, an "edgy" advertising campaign and "high-profile PR events", and the use of new media like MySpace to connect with consumers. Sales in 2007 were 231% greater than in 2006 at Selfridge's London; as of October 2007, the Wayfarer was the Luxottica Group's third-best-selling style. As of July 2008, sales had increased 40% over 2007.

During the 2000s Wayfarer revival, many sunglasses designs inspired by the original Wayfarers were produced by designers unaffiliated with Ray-Ban. Grey Ant's Grant Krajecki designed a larger, cartoonish version of the glasses "so extreme that they are best worn by those with a good sense of humor". Sabre Vision's "Poolside" design is a smaller, thinner version that resembles "a cross between old-school Oakleys and the pair worn by Tom Cruise in 'Risky Business'". Other Wayfarer-inspired sunglasses included Oliver Peoples' "Hollis", REM Eyewear's "Converse", and various designs in Juicy Couture, Hugo Boss, Kate Spade, and Marc Jacobs's 2008 lines. Between July and September 2008, retailers began selling frameless Wayfarers.

In early 2008, Ray-Ban released a line of "colorized" Wayfarers. These frames came in such colors as camouflage, pink, navy blue, and turquoise. Other designs featured color-combinations like gold on black, red on tortoise-shell, and white on black. These new-edition Wayfarers were part of the Ray-Ban "Colorize" line.

In 2009, Oakley released a pair of sunglasses known as "Jupiter" which bears striking similarity to the Wayfarers, with the addition of a more angled frame and a metal band on the hinge. Available in various color combinations (clear plastic frames/violet iridium, matte black frames/gray iridium, etc.), the Jupiter features a square "O".